High Court orders police to produce missing Busia businessman dead or alive within 48 hours

The High Court in Busia has issued an order demanding that the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigations, and the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit present an electronics businessman who vanished at a police roadblock nearly ten months ago, either dead or alive, within 48 hours. In a judgment issued on November 13, 2026, Justice Samwel Mohochi determined that Ahmed Ibrahim Ali Mohamed's disappearance constituted a blatant and ongoing breach of the Constitution, awarding him Sh5.84 million in damages against the state.

The incident occurred on January 25, 2026, when Ahmed, traveling from Busia to Nairobi by bus, was stopped at a multi-agency security roadblock near Korinda Main Prison. Four individuals boarded his bus, demanded identification documents, and singled out Ahmed, removing him from the vehicle and taking him to a black Volkswagen. Ahmed's luggage, containing $130,000 for business, was also taken.

He has not been seen since. His uncle reported him missing the day after he failed to arrive in Nairobi. The court found the family's situation to be an instance of 'ambiguous loss', resulting in prolonged psychological distress, economic hardship, and legal uncertainty regarding Ahmed's assets. The petition was filed by Busia Senator and lawyer Okiya Omtatah Okoiti on Ahmed's behalf.

The state's explanation of the abduction as carried out by ordinary criminals impersonating police officers was rejected by the court as contradictory, evasive, and constitutionally inadequate. The court questioned how the alleged abductors could conduct their operation without alerting prison wardens and cited the presence of armed officers at the facility as improbable.

The court also faulted investigators for not interviewing the bus driver and prison officers on duty. Discrepancies in the police investigation diary, the passenger manifest, and the lack of critical evidence within state agencies led to the court ordering the production of the businessman's whereabouts and the surrender of the investigation file to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority.

Additionally, the government was instructed to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Failure to comply with the court's orders could result in contempt of court proceedings and up to six months in civil jail.