Families in Agony as They Search for Missing Relatives After Anti-Government Protests

 In a hurry? Here’s a quick summary…

• Families of missing individuals have been camping at Nairobi’s city mortuary, searching for their loved ones abducted during recent protests.

• Human rights activists report 51 bodies at the mortuary in six weeks, with some showing bullet wounds, amid concerns of inadequate support for missing persons.

For the past week, a family has been stationed at the city mortuary, desperately hoping for a chance to view bodies in their search for a missing relative. 

Pablo Escobar, a young man who was abducted during a protest last week, is the focus of their anguish. 

According to a close family member, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, Pablo was taken while participating in a march to honor a friend killed during the ‘Occupy Parliament’ protests in Nairobi’s CBD. 

“He was taken by police officers who were disguised in rafats and hoodies. They arrived in a police vehicle, and those are the ones who took him,” the family member said.

The family has endured severe distress since his disappearance, with their efforts to locate him proving fruitless. 

They are not alone in their suffering; the family of 17-year-old Francis Otieno, missing since July 2 amid intense protests in the Mlolongo area of Machakos County, shares their plight. 

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“We have not received any communication about him. We were told at his workplace that he was at the protests, and we’ve come here but have not found his body,” a relative of Francis lamented.

These two families are part of a larger group grappling with the disappearance of their loved ones during the recent protests. 

Some of the missing individuals were last seen at the protests or were reportedly abducted; while some have been found safe, others have been discovered dead.

President William Ruto has advised that formal reports be made regarding the missing persons. 

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) estimates that 60 people are missing from the protests. 

The families of Pablo and Francis have reported their cases but claim to have received little assistance from law enforcement.

Amid these concerns, human rights activists have raised alarms about the number of bodies recorded at Nairobi’s City Mortuary over the past six weeks. 

Khalid Hussein of Haki Africa reported that since around the 25th, 51 bodies have been recorded, with some showing bullet wounds and others categorized as accident victims. 

The missing individuals' families have now been advised to visit city morgues to check if any of the unidentified bodies might belong to their loved ones.