The family of missing Kenyan police officer Benedict Kabiru has taken the government to court, demanding transparency nearly three months after he vanished during a peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
With no word from officials and growing fears that Kabiru may have been killed or abducted, the family says they have reached a breaking point.
Kabiru disappeared on March 26, 2025, while participating in a rescue operation in Savien, a gang-controlled region northwest of Port-au-Prince. According to reports, gunmen ambushed him and other Kenyan officers during the mission.
Since that day, government officials have failed to provide any clear or consistent information about his status. His family says the silence has only deepened their anguish, forcing them to seek legal redress in pursuit of answers.
On March 31, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja publicly announced that the search for Kabiru was still underway. A few days later, on April 6, a disturbing video surfaced online, reportedly showing Kabiru’s final moments. The video depicts a lifeless body in uniform, stained with blood, fuelling speculation that he may have died in the ambush.
Despite the public alarm, Jack Ombaka, spokesperson for the MSS peacekeeping mission, dismissed the video as propaganda. He urged the public not to believe unverified footage or rush to conclusions.
But Kabiru’s family says those reassurances mean little without concrete updates. In a petition filed at the High Court in Nairobi, his mother Jacinta Wanjiku, brother Phillip Kamau, and uncle Daniel Ndung’u accuse government agencies of withholding crucial information and failing to update them on Kabiru’s fate.
Top State Officials Listed as Respondents
The lawsuit names top state officials, including Attorney General Dorcas Oduor, Inspector General Douglas Kanja, the National Police Service Commission, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, as respondents.
Court documents outline Kabiru’s long-standing dedication to national service. After training at the Embakasi Administration Police Training Centre, he served in some of Kenya’s most volatile areas; Busia, Garissa, Mandera, Marsabit, Boni Forest, and Moyale, under the Border Patrol Unit.
He later joined the Haiti peacekeeping mission on July 15, 2024, in the second batch of Kenyan officers deployed to restore stability in the gang-ravaged Caribbean country.
His family recalls that Kabiru remained in good health and maintained regular contact with them until March. Communication suddenly ceased after reports emerged online about a deadly ambush involving Kenyan peacekeepers.
“When the reports surfaced, the Director of Operations at police headquarters dismissed them as fake news from social media. But when we pressed him for details and sought clarity, he went silent,” the family stated in court.
Since then, the family says they have visited government offices and made numerous phone calls, only to receive evasive answers or conflicting accounts from different officials.
“We have suffered untold pain and anguish. We just want to know if he is alive, and where he is,” said his mother, Jacinta Wanjiku.
“We feel abandoned,” added his brother, Phillip Kamau. “Everyone either avoids the issue or gives conflicting stories..”
Now, desperate for closure, the family is asking the court to compel the government to provide a full and truthful account of Kabiru’s status, including whether he is alive and under the care of Kenyan forces or another authority.
