Gone but not forgotten: Did you know today is International Day of the Disappeared?
Every year on August 30, the world pauses to observe the International Day of the Disappeared. It is a day to reflect on the lives of those who vanished without a trace and the families left in endless search for answers. In Kenya, the weight of this day is deeply felt.
Over the years, reports of enforced disappearances have continued to scar communities. According to a report by the Missing Voices coalition, Kenya recorded 159 cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in 2024 alone.
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Out of these, 55 were enforced disappearances. This was a shocking rise from only 10 cases the previous year. The sharp increase meant that 2024 had one of the highest records of disappearances in recent history.
The months of the Finance Bill protests were the darkest. In June 2024, as young people filled the streets to voice their frustrations, at least 15 people disappeared. By October, 11 more had vanished. Families who sent their sons and daughters out to march for justice never saw them return home. Most victims were aged between 18 and 34.
Human rights defenders have long raised the alarm about these cases.
“Enforced disappearances are not just numbers, they are lives cut short and families torn apart,” a representative from the Kenya Human Rights Commission said earlier this year.
The commission noted that in many cases, disappearances were linked to plain-clothed officers who took people in unmarked cars, often in broad daylight.
Zero closure
These incidents are not new. In January 2009, journalist Francis Nyaruri disappeared after publishing stories on police corruption. His body was later discovered in a forest, bound and mutilated. A decade later, in February 2019, activist Caroline Mwatha went missing in Nairobi. Her body was later found in a mortuary under unclear circumstances, sparking nationwide grief and outrage.
In 2022, the discovery of bodies in River Yala once again brought the horror to light. Thirty-six bodies were pulled from the river, many of them bearing signs of torture. To this day, several families have never received closure.
The problem runs deeper because Kenya has no clear domestic law that criminalises enforced disappearance. Although the country signed the International Convention on Enforced Disappearances in 2006, Parliament has never passed legislation to define or punish it.
“Without a specific law, justice remains out of reach for most families,” Amnesty International said in a recent statement.
The organisation stressed that perpetrators often walk free or face lesser charges, such as abduction.
Accountability remains rare. Less than two per cent of police killings and disappearances in Kenya ever result in prosecutions. For the families, the silence is deafening.
“I just want to know where my son is. If he is gone, let me bury him. If he is alive, let me see him,” a mother from Mathare whose 23-year-old son disappeared in June 2024 told the media. Her words captured the painful reality of countless households across the country.
Recommendation
Human rights organisations such as Haki Africa, Missing Voices, and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights continue to push for change. They recommend stronger oversight of security agencies, creation of a victims’ compensation fund, and a national database of missing persons. They also call for the establishment of the National Coroners Service to independently investigate deaths and disappearances.
So how can Kenyans commemorate the Day of the Disappeared? Citizens are encouraged to light candles in memory of the missing, to share their names on social media, and to attend vigils organised by families and rights groups. Communities can visit affected families to show solidarity. Simple acts of remembrance matter. They remind the state and society that these lives cannot be erased by silence.
The International Day of the Disappeared is not just another date. It is a reminder that behind every disappearance is a family waiting for closure. It is a call for justice and accountability. And it is a promise that those who vanished are gone, but not forgotten.
