The High Court in Nairobi has ordered Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the officer in charge of Ruai Police Station to produce Tanzanian opposition activist Twaha Mwaipaya in court on Monday, "dead or alive", days after he was reportedly snatched on the outskirts of the city.

Justice Alexander Muteti issued the directions at Milimani after certifying as urgent a habeas corpus application filed by human rights lobby VOCAL Africa. The respondents are to appear with Mr Mwaipaya at 11am on Monday, November 2, bring the original warrant under which he is being held, and explain why he should not be set free immediately.

What the court ordered

The judge summoned IG Kanja and DCI Director Mohamed Amin to appear either in person or through their lawyers to account for the activist's arrest and detention. According to the orders reported by Citizen Digital and Kenyans.co.ke, the court directed:

  • The IG, the DCI and the Ruai OCS to produce Mr Mwaipaya before the court on Monday at 11am
  • The respondents to table the original detention warrant
  • All parties to file their responses by 9am on Monday, ahead of further directions

The application was filed under a chamber summons dated October 27. VOCAL Africa chief executive Hussein Khalid welcomed the court's intervention. Police had not publicly said whether Mr Mwaipaya is in their custody by the time of publication.

Seized from a taxi in Kamulu

Mr Mwaipaya is the national mobilisation coordinator for the youth wing of CHADEMA, Tanzania's main opposition party, and a vocal critic of President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government. He was reportedly abducted at around 2pm on Sunday, October 25, while travelling in a taxi to visit friends in Kamulu, on the boundary of Nairobi and Machakos counties.

Accounts cited by Amnesty International say three vehicles, among them a Toyota Land Cruiser, were involved. A four-wheel-drive vehicle allegedly forced the taxi off the road before three masked, armed men emerged and took the activist away. A fellow Tanzanian opposition member who was with him is said to have escaped. These accounts have not been tested in court.

A pattern rights groups worry about

The case has revived concern over the treatment of foreign dissidents on Kenyan soil. Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai was briefly abducted in Nairobi in January 2025, while Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye was seized in the city in November 2024 and later surfaced in custody in Kampala, where he has remained in detention.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have warned of possible cooperation between security agencies in the region to target government critics, and have pointed to earlier forced returns of refugees and government critics from Kenya. Monday's hearing will be the first opportunity for the State to give its account of Mr Mwaipaya's whereabouts before the court.

Photos: Eastleigh Voice (courtesy); Kenyans.co.ke. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.