‘Moribund’ IPOA? Spotlight on VC Wanjiku led team amid fresh wave of police-linked abductions

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has come under intense spotlight since the 2004 Gen Z revolt, which was followed by allegations of abductions and extrajudicial killing of dozens of youths at the front of the anti-government protests against tax measures in the Finance Bill that many considered punitive.

The controversy was recently reignited by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matisng’i before being escalated by Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru when she said a recent wave of abductions linked to the police was giving the Kenya Kwanza government a very bad image and thus making it hard for leaders supporting President William Ruto’s administration to defend it.

IPOA is currently headed by Vice-Chairperson Ann Wanjiku Mwangi who took over from immediate former chairman Issack Hassan who resigned on February 17, 2026, following his appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal.

Waiguru accused IPOA of failing in its mission to promote accountability and professionalism in the police service by allegedly allowing rogue police officers to continue perpetuating acts of abductions.

Speaking during an empowerment programme at Kamaigua Grounds in Kutus, Kirinyaga County, on Tuesday, Waiguru said IPOA was specifically established to handle complaints against police officers and should be held accountable if it fails to act on allegations of misconduct.

She noted that although the government has faced criticism over the alleged abductions, independent institutions tasked with oversight also have a responsibility to establish the truth.

“I have said this several times and even the president has called for a stop to these abductions. IPOA must do its work, because you are making our work very difficult to defend the government if abduction becomes the news every day,” she said.

“IPOA was created to investigate complaints against police officers, including allegations of abductions and abuse of power. If there are cases to be investigated, then the authority must do its work and discharge its constitutional responsibility,” Waiguru added.

“IPOA, do your job. Abductions are not part of this government, and I can never be a party to them. There are those who want to use this issue as a campaign tool. On our part, we are campaigning for this government peacefully, and we believe people will listen to us,” she added.

“As a mother, I can never be on the side of abductions, I can never be and there is no one in this government who can support abductions,” the governor said.

According to the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR), it documented seven incidents of enforced disappearance of peaceful protestors by the police on June 25, 2026.

“Six protestors: Boniface Mulinge Muteti, Elisha Ochieng Alam, Collins Otieno, Fredrick Ojiro, Christine Alubengo and Michael Ngige, were arrested outside Parliament, bundled in a police truck and driven away. Efforts to trace them were fruitless, as they were not booked in any police station. The police denied holding them despite the arrest having been witnessed on live TV news,” KNCHR chairperson Claris Ogangah said in a statement.

She added that on Saturday, June 27 at around 4:00 am., the six were dumped along Langata Road and Ngong Road after being driven by Subaru vehicles from an unknown location. The six, who were heavily traumatized, told the Commission that they had been severely tortured and held under inhuman and degrading conditions in an unknown location where they were taken after being arrested on 25th June.

“They narrated how they were abandoned by the police in an isolated area after their initial arrest. Moments after the police truck sped off, the six were ambushed by more than ten heavily armed men in civilian clothes who are believed to be security officers. They were blindfolded and whisked away in three Subaru Station Wagon vehicles.”

In another incident in Githurai, an unidentified male was forcibly apprehended by unknown individuals and taken away in a concealed Subaru vehicle. Another protestor, Davis Lichuma, was found yesterday (28th June 2026) evening, four days after being arrested by the police during the protests. Lichuma, who was visibly traumatized and in a lot of pain, is currently in hospital in Nairobi.

The commission also received reports of three other persons; Macmillan Kiarie, Michael Oloo and Abdilaziz Duba, who were allegedly picked by security agencies last week in Nairobi and have since been missing.

Enforced disappearance constitutes one of the most serious violations of human rights, infringing upon multiple fundamental rights and freedoms.

It is unequivocally prohibited under the constitution of Kenya, as well as under international human rights and humanitarian law, and may amount to a crime under international law.