The reported abduction of Tanzanian national and opposition activist Twaha Mwaipaya in Kamulu, Machakos County, Kenya on 25 October 2026 raises urgent questions about the safety of people seeking refuge in Kenya from persecution and political repression in their home countries. Mwaipaya was reportedly travelling in a taxi to visit friends when individuals using three vehicles, including a Toyota Land Cruiser hardtop, intercepted the vehicle and took him away. His whereabouts and safety must be established urgently. The Kenyan authorities must act immediately to locate him, ensure his protection, and investigate the circumstances of his disappearance.
This incident is particularly alarming because it comes against the backdrop of repeated reports of abductions and attempted abductions of foreign nationals on Kenyan soil. These incidents point to a disturbing pattern of transnational repression, in which governments or their suspected agents seek to silence critics beyond their own borders. Kenya must not allow its territory to become a place where people fleeing persecution are hunted down, forcibly disappeared or returned to countries where they risk torture, arbitrary detention or other serious human rights violations.
The case of Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye remains one of the most troubling examples. On 16 November 2024, Besigye, a former presidential candidate and prominent critic of the Ugandan government, was abducted in Nairobi. Four days later, he resurfaced in Kampala, where he was arraigned before a military court alongside his associate, Haji Obeid Lutale. Amnesty International condemned his abduction and the absence of a lawful extradition process, calling for his immediate release. His subsequent detention in Uganda underscores the grave consequences of removing people from Kenya outside established legal procedures and the protections those procedures are intended to guarantee.
The consequences of such incidents can be irreversible. South Sudanese human rights lawyer and activist Dong Samuel Luak and opposition figure Aggrey Ezbon Idri were abducted in Nairobi in January 2017 and subsequently killed in South Sudan, according to investigations by human rights organisations. Their remains have never been publicly returned to their families, and accountability remains incomplete. Their cases are a stark reminder that an abduction is not simply a disappearance from public view; it can be the beginning of a chain of violations that ends in death, with families left without answers and perpetrators beyond the reach of justice.
The whereabouts of Ethiopian national Samson Gebreigzi Teklemichael have also remained unknown since he was forcibly abducted on 19 November 2021 at the Kileleshwa roundabout, near Loitoktok Road in Nairobi, in the glare of cameras. The apparent brazenness of such incidents raises serious concerns about whether people targeted because of their political opinions, activism or perceived opposition to governments in their home countries can safely live in Kenya.
There have, fortunately, been instances in which attempted abductions have been thwarted. Tanzanian activists Maria Sarungi Tsehai and Mshabaha Mshanaha Hamza were among those targeted in reported incidents in Kenya, with the affected individuals rescued. However, the fact that such attempts have occurred at all demonstrates the vulnerability of people who seek safety in Kenya and the need for effective preventive measures, rather than a response that begins only after someone has disappeared.
Concerns are further compounded by cases involving the forced return of foreign nationals. In 2024, the Kenyan government confirmed cooperation with Türkiye in connection with the return of Turkish nationals and asylum seekers, including Hüseyin Yeşilsu, Necdet Seyitoğlu, Öztürk Uzun and Alparslan Taşçı. Such cases raise fundamental questions about the safeguards applied when foreign governments seek the return of individuals who may face persecution or other serious human rights violations. Cooperation between states cannot override the obligation to assess protection claims, respect due process and ensure that no one is returned to a place where they face a real risk of serious harm.
More recently, Athorbey Al-Gaddhaffy-Dit, also known as Gadafi Athorbey Guet, was reportedly abducted in Nairobi in June 2026 and taken to South Sudan, where he was detained for nearly two months. He was released in August and returned to Kenya in deteriorating health, according to his family. The case illustrates the human cost of cross-border abductions and the urgent need for effective safeguards against unlawful transfers and the involvement of state agents in such operations.
The Kenyan government has, on several occasions, disassociated itself from reported abductions on its territory. Such denials, however, cannot substitute for the duty to protect people, investigate credible allegations and ensure accountability. The state’s responsibility does not begin and end with establishing whether its officials directly participated in an abduction. It must also take reasonable and effective steps to prevent foreseeable threats to life and security, investigate violations, establish the whereabouts of missing people, and protect those at risk.
Kenya’s Constitution provides a clear foundation for this responsibility. Article 28 guarantees that every person has inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected. Article 29 protects every person’s right to freedom and security, including the right not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause, subjected to violence from either public or private sources, tortured, or treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading manner. Article 27 guarantees equality before the law and equal protection and benefit of the law. These protections are not reserved for Kenyan citizens. Under Article 20(1), the Bill of Rights applies to all law and binds all state organs and all persons.
The Constitution also establishes the legal safeguards that must govern any arrest, detention or removal of a person from Kenya. Articles 49 and 50 provide protections relating to arrested persons and fair hearings. Anyone suspected of an offense must be dealt with through lawful procedures, not seized by unidentified individuals and transferred across a border outside the safeguards of the law. Where a person’s removal from Kenya is sought by another state, the government must ensure that the applicable legal procedures and human rights protections are respected.
Kenya’s international obligations reinforce these constitutional guarantees. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects the right to liberty and security of person and prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention. Article 6 protects the right to life, while Article 7 prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Article 2(1) requires states parties to respect and ensure the Covenant’s rights to all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction, without discrimination. These obligations apply to everyone under Kenya’s jurisdiction, regardless of nationality or immigration status.
Kenya is also bound by the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, as well as the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. Article 33(1) of the 1951 Refugee Convention establishes the principle of non-refoulement, prohibiting the expulsion or return of a refugee to territories where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, subject to the Convention’s limited exceptions. Article II(3) of the OAU Refugee Convention similarly prohibits the rejection, return or expulsion of a refugee to a territory where their life, physical integrity or liberty would be threatened for the reasons set out in that provision.
Kenya’s Refugees Act, 2021, gives effect to this protection in domestic law. Section 29 prohibits refusing entry, expelling, extraditing or returning a refugee or asylum seeker, or subjecting them to a similar measure, where this would compel them to return to or remain in a country where they face persecution or specified threats to their life, physical integrity or liberty, subject to the Act’s stated exception. These safeguards cannot be bypassed by describing a transfer as diplomatic cooperation, deportation or an informal handover. The substance and consequences of the action matter, as do the legal protections owed to the individual.
The government must therefore take immediate, concrete steps to establish Twaha Mwaipaya’s whereabouts and guarantee his safety. The authorities should investigate his reported abduction promptly, independently, impartially and transparently; examine all available evidence, including witness accounts and relevant surveillance footage; and determine whether any public officials were involved or facilitated the incident. Any person reasonably suspected of responsibility must be held accountable through lawful proceedings. The authorities must also ensure that Mwaipaya is not forcibly transferred to Tanzania or any other country where he could face persecution or serious human rights violations.
Beyond this individual case, Kenya must adopt and effectively implement measures to prevent cross-border abductions, enforced disappearances and unlawful renditions. This includes protecting refugees, asylum seekers, political dissidents and human rights defenders who may be targeted by foreign authorities; investigating credible threats; strengthening safeguards against unlawful transfers; and ensuring that any cooperation with foreign governments is consistent with Kenya’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.
The cost of failing to act is measured in lives lost, families denied answers, people unlawfully detained and a growing climate of fear among those who should be able to find safety in Kenya. Kenya has long been a place of refuge for people escaping conflict, persecution and repression in the region. That role must be protected through action, not merely affirmed in words.