The Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has denied that the missing aide to Marakwet East MP Bowen Kangogo is in police custody.
Lawyer Kwame Ramo from the Attorney General’s office said the missing aide, Bethwel Chesir, was not arrested by the police as claimed by his family and witnesses.
Ramo made the revelations when a case filed by Chesir’s family came up for hearing before Justice Patrick Otieno.
“Your honour, the missing person is not in the custody of the police and he cannot thus be produced as demanded in the application before the court,” Ramo said.
Ramo represents the IG and the AG, who have been sued by Chesir’s family.
Investigations officer in the case, Patrick Okumu, has also sworn an affidavit which was filed before the court, stating that the missing person is not at any police station in the country.
The IG has thus opposed orders issued earlier by the court directing him to produce Chesir in court.
Okumu says in his affidavit that information they received indicated Chesir was abducted by masked, armed men near Rosa Training Camp along the Kaptagat–Eldoret road on August 7, 2025.
Okumu says investigations into the abduction are ongoing and police recovered a vehicle which Chesir was using, along with two of his colleagues, who were, however, abandoned at the scene.
The police want the orders of production issued by the court vacated because Chesir is not in their custody.
However, lawyer Stephen Ombego for Chesir’s family argued that they had witnesses to confirm that Chesir’s abductors were police officers.
“We seek to have the two witnesses who were with Chesir in his car to be cross-examined because their testimony will confirm that those who abducted Chesir were police officers,” said Ombego.
Justice Otieno directed the AG to file affidavits attaching statements recorded from the two colleagues who were with Chesir at the time of the abduction.
Justice Otieno, who handled the matter virtually, directed that it be heard on Monday, August 18, 2025.
The family filed the case at the High Court in Eldoret seeking to have the state produce Chesir.
The family members angrily protested over his alleged abduction, insisting that the government was aware of his whereabouts.
“My client was abducted by state machinery as he traveled from Nairobi to see his ailing father, who is admitted at Moi Referral Hospital,” Ombego said.
He said Chesir was abducted along the Kaptagat road on August 7 at around 9 pm as he headed to the hospital.
Chesir, who was traveling with two other people, was intercepted by two cars that blocked their vehicle. They were ordered to lie down on the road and asked to identify themselves.
“When Chesir mentioned his name, he was immediately taken away by about eight armed officers who then fled with him immediately,” Ombego said.
Chesir’s uncle, Richard Kiptoo, his son Felix Chesir, and his sister Agneta Chemngetich protested outside the High Court over the alleged abduction.
“Chesir is innocent and was only going to attend to his sick father. Let them release him or tell us the mistake he did,” Kiptoo said.
Chesir’s father, Robert Keino, aged over 70 years, is admitted to the ICU at MTRH.
Lawyer Ombego and family members said they would fight at all costs to have the aide released.
Chesir is aged 52 years and has a family with several children.
Kangogo has asked the government to produce the aide and appeared to link the matter to the ongoing security operation against banditry in Kerio Valley.
“He is a well-known person who also works in my office,” Kangogo said.
