Families of missing protesters are still looking for answers and the remains of their kids nearly a year after large-scale riots shook Kenya’s capital. Susan Wangari, a 50-year-old woman from the Kasarani slum in Nairobi, has spent months searching for her son, Emmanuel Mukuria, who disappeared on June 25, 2024, the day of the city’s deadly anti-tax protests. She has visited mortuaries, hospitals, and police stations. In a recent interview at her one-room house, Wangari told AFP, “It would be better if my son were dead; at least I could visit his grave.” According to acquaintances who last saw him in the city centre, Mukuria, 24, was a minibus tout who is thought to have been arrested during the protests.
Disappearances persist despite government pledge
According to human rights organisations, during the June–July 2024 protests, at least 60 individuals were killed, and security agents are suspected of kidnapping over 80 of them. Rights groups claim that while many of those detained have since been freed, frequently without reason, many are still missing. According to Wangari, two guys who were in the same cell as her son confided in her but are too scared to talk in public. She became even more hopeful that Mukuria might still be alive when one was just made public in February 2025.
They were interrogated over the protests and assaulted. Wangari stated, “They were being asked who paid them to participate.” Last month, President William Ruto admitted that some people had been arrested after initially denying claims of forced disappearances. Since then, he maintained, they had been “returned to their families.” However, his remarks stand in stark contrast to the testimonies of rights organisations and families, who claim that no official accountability procedure has been put in place. Ruto’s office representative stated that the police were handling the situation. The police department, however, had no statement regarding Mukuria’s case and instead directed enquiries back to the president’s office.
Justice slow for protest victims
The fight for justice is highlighted by the tale of 29-year-old Rex Masai. Masai, who was shot in the city centre on June 20, 2024, was the first protest-related death to be confirmed. At a nearby clinic, his mother, Gillian Munyao, discovered his body in a pool of blood. The inquest into his murder is still ongoing ten months later, with officials citing a dearth of willing witnesses as the main obstacle. According to Munyao, a crucial witness withdrew out of concern that he may be “forcibly disappeared” by the authorities. A picture of Masai, grinning and dreadlocked, is silently displayed on the wall of the family’s house. Chrispin Odawa, his father, claims that resolution is still elusive. He declared, “The wound will never heal.” “We place a high value on the pursuit of justice.”
Rights groups allege cover-ups and silence
Vocal Africa’s executive director, Hussein Khalid, claims that “a lack of cooperation by the authorities” has halted progress. In recent months, his organisation has recorded at least 20 to 30 funerals connected to protests and dozens of detentions. He questioned, “Was it necessary to use this kind of brute force against innocent, young Kenyans?” According to Khalid, gathering evidence is difficult as it must eventually be turned over to the same police departments that are being accused of wrongdoing. Not many families have faith that justice will be served. In the meanwhile, there seems to be less political will. A member of the ruling coalition, Bashir Abdullahi, dismissed calls for more investigation at a May parliamentary session. He claimed, “People were killed, we sympathised, and we moved on.”
‘Every knock on the door gives me hope’
Families like the Wangaris, however, are unable to go on. There is still a glimmer of optimism with every phone call, every news of unidentified bodies, and every knock on the door. “As he always did, I sleep lightly at night in case he knocks on my window,” Wangari remarked. Rights organisations are urging the government to make public the complete list of people in custody, conduct its own independent enquiries, and compensate the relatives of those who have been slain or gone missing. Many Kenyan families will remain in limbo until then, hoping for a reckoning as much as answers.
