The family of Embakasi East MP Babu Owino faces a difficult situation, which shows the legal boundaries between police work and government-backed kidnapping have become less distinct. According to reports, Frederick Onyango Odhiambo, the lawmaker’s brother-in-law, vanished after police officers arrested him at the high-stakes location.
Police officers now handle this case because it shows how forced disappearances have expanded from their previous boundaries to reach the core areas of political power. The “twisted” reality of this case lies in the absolute silence from the DCI headquarters. Police officers have not brought Odhiambo to any police station after his daytime arrest, and they have not brought him to a magistrate within the required 24-hour period.
Babu Owino believes that government workers have arranged his assassination attempt, which he describes as a direct attempt to shatter his mental state. The MP’s frantic search across various detention centers has yielded nothing but closed doors and denials, suggesting the existence of a “ghost manifest” where certain individuals are held outside the reach of the Bill of Rights.
The disappearance of Frederick Odhiambo serves as a dangerous test that examines whether the Kenyan judiciary system possesses true independence. The social contract between the public and government has collapsed because a Member of Parliament cannot find his relative who disappeared into state security facilities.
The situation has reached a critical emergency because the “arrest” now resembles a kidnapping operation instead of a lawful detention.
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