Family of Missing Kenyan Security Expert Seeks FBI and Israel’s Help to Find Him
The family of missing Kenyan security expert Mwenda Mbijiwe has sought the international community’s help in finding him.
Mbijiwe, a former Kenya Air Force Commander went missing on June 12th and his hired car was found abandoned in a coffee plantation near Tatu City in Kiambu. He had hired the car from Edward Mwangi for three weeks, for business purposes.
On the day he disappeared, Mbijiwe had left Nairobi for his rural home at Kimbo village in Meru County but he never made it.
His mother Jane Gatwiri says the family believes he is still alive but police are reluctant to find him and are withholding information from them. Gatwiri appealed to the US, Israel, and South Africa to join the search for her son, who is the CEO of Eye on Security Ltd.
Addressing journalists at her home in Sirimon, Buuri West, Meru County, the mother said there are many unanswered questions that they wanted addressed.
She questioned why Mwangi was allowed to repossess the vehicle without recording a statement. Gatwiri further claimed that Mwangi is a police officer attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), which is probing her son’s disappearance.
“We are disturbed since the same people carrying out the investigations are the same people who recovered the vehicle. The DCI officer was not even asked to record a statement yet police keep telling us that they are busy pursuing the matter,” she said.
“We are bothered and disturbed by the delay and want the government to [give clear reports on the matter]. We will only be comfortable when we see him. We believe he is alive.”
His brother Nicholas Bundi said they suspect Mbijiwe might be in the hands of Kenyan security agencies.
“I have worked with him on security and counter-terrorism issues. He is always very alert, meaning the people with him must be better trained than he is. The issue of the hired vehicle is another puzzle,” he said.
Mbijiwe was set to contest for the Meru gubernatorial seat in 2017 but he withdrew and supported incumbent Peter Munya, who eventually lost to Kiraitu Murungi.