The High Court dismissed a habeas corpus application seeking to compel the government to produce missing security analyst and former military officer Mwenda Mbijiwe.
The court found that there was insufficient evidence to show he was being held in the custody of the state or any identifiable person.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Martin Muya, the court ruled that the applicants had failed to establish a prima facie case that Mbijiwe was under illegal detention by the respondents.
“From the evidence adduced in court, a prima facie case has not been made to the effect that the first applicant was in the illegal custody of the respondent,” Justice Muya held.
However, Justice Muya sharply criticized the pace and quality of investigations into Mbijiwe’s disappearance, ruling that key investigative steps were only initiated 5 years after he went missing.
The judge said that although Mbijiwe disappeared in 2021, investigators only sought court orders in 2025 to obtain his call data records, location information, and mobile phone history.
Other inquiries, including requests to financial institutions, the registration authorities, and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), were also launched several years after his disappearance.
“These investigative tools were being activated five years after the disappearance of the first applicant,” Justice Muya ruled.
The court said that investigations into disappearances must be prompt, independent, and effective in order to satisfy constitutional standards.
Justice Muya expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the investigations had been conducted, describing them as lacking substance.
He said that the proceedings before him were limited to a habeas corpus application and not a case seeking judicial supervision of investigations.
“I have clearly indicated the court’s displeasure with the investigations,” the judge said, adding that the court had not been asked to direct or oversee the investigative process.
Mbijiwe disappeared under mysterious circumstances in June 2021.
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