Court closes ‘Habeas corpus’ case on activist Ndiangui Kinyagia disappearance

IT expert and social media blogger Ndiangui Kinyagia, who went missing for 10 days in June 2025, can afford to sleep soundly after the High Court closed a suit seeking to compel the police to produce him in court.

Justice Chacha Mwita marked the case as closed after senior counsel Martha Karua asked the court to terminate the case “since Kinyagia resurfaced from his hideout".

Justice Mwita noted that Mr Kinyagia had gone into hiding for fear of his life after learning that police had ransacked his house and carted away his laptop and other documents.

Also the judge noted from the affidavit sworn by Mr Kinyagia that he went into hiding as police had locked his house with their own padlock.

"The petitioner did not do something extra-ordinary by going into hiding after learning that police were after him," Justice Mwita stated.

He further observed that the mother of the petitioner, in a desperate move, approached the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) through Abner Mango to file
a Habeas corpus application requiring police to produce her son Ndiangui Kinyagia in court.
Her son had been reported missing for over 10 days.

Justice Mwita also observed the state through the Attorney General  Dorcus Oduor did not oppose the withdrawal.of the application by the IT expert.
In his rulinflg Justice Mwita   ordered the matter be marked as withdrawn.

He concurred with senior counsel Martha Karua that the case be closed as Mr Kinyagia went underground fearing for his life.

He said that fear for his life was a congent reason to warrant the plea to cease.

“I order this matter marked as withdrawn as to no orders to costs,” ruled Justice Mwita.

Mr Kinyagia told the court that he fled after police allegedly raided and ransacked his home where he later found the locks for his house had been changed.

"My House had become a police house," Mr Kinyagia stated in his affidavit to the court.

He said the experience forced him to go into hiding without his phone or any contact with family, insisting he acted as “any normal person would do to preserve life.”

In an affidavit filed in court, he claimed he feared possible abduction, torture, or even death, pointing to previous cases of enforced disappearances.

His mother, who initially sought help from the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), testified that her son appeared physically tortured when he resurfaced and that she had only acted to protect him.

Ms Karua asked the court to close the matter, noting that LSK has since been discharged from the proceedings and that orders previously issued to stop Ndiangui’s arrest had served their purpose. She stressed that the activist is not a fugitive and has a fixed residence.

The court also heard that Kinyagia’s electronic devices-- allegedly seized during the police raid--remain in the custody of authorities.

Ms Karua urged the court to order their return, arguing that the police never sought judicial authority to access them.

“If police require the gadgets, then they should make an application to have them,” Ms Karua told the court.

The State did not oppose the withdrawal, but objected to the removal of LSK from the case, arguing that a separate petition would be necessary.

It argued that since LSK were the original applicants, their withdrawal rendered the petition collapsed and left the court without jurisdiction to make further orders.

“There is no case upon which the court can be moved to make orders,” the State submitted.

Justice Mwita proceeded to close the file, bringing the long-running matter to an end.