The Director of the Witness Protection Agency has been ordered to appear before the High Court as the families of three missing Mathare men continue their search for answers nearly two months after their disappearance.
Milimani High Court Judge Alexander Muteti directed the agency’s director to attend court at 9am on Tuesday during proceedings in a habeas corpus case concerning Macmillan Kiarie Mugo, Michael Oloo and Evans Otieno.
The order followed concerns raised by lawyer Abner Mango, who is representing the families, over the agency’s response to an application seeking protection for three witnesses linked to the case.
Mango told the court that the agency had been served with the documents on July 21. He said he visited its offices on Monday and was informed that the documents had been received but that no action had yet been taken.
The lawyer questioned the delay despite the agency’s confirmation that it had received the court papers.
“In admitting that they have received the court documents, they then tell us that the same are still on the desk. So we are surprised as to what is pending.”
The witness protection request was filed on July 20 for three people considered key to the case. The applicants say the witnesses were present when Michael Oloo Osoro was arrested at a barbershop and could provide crucial information about the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Mango told the court that the protection of the witnesses was necessary given the attention surrounding the case and the potential importance of their evidence.
He separately asked the court to have CCTV footage from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the investigating officer produced, arguing that the recordings could help establish what happened during Oloo’s arrest.
The prolonged absence of the three men has left their families increasingly distressed, the court heard.
Mango told Justice Muteti that he had spoken to the families before Monday’s proceedings and said they were approaching two months without their relatives returning home.
“I have just been in contact with the family. They are now counting two months since they were home.”
He urged the court to treat the matter with urgency, stressing the wider public interest in establishing the whereabouts of the missing men.
“We do not overemphasise the public interest in this matter. Even one more day is one too many days.”
The three men were reported missing in late June, and the families are seeking judicial intervention to establish what happened to them and where they are.
The Witness Protection Agency director is expected to appear before the court on Tuesday and respond to the concerns surrounding the pending witness protection request.
