The demands were made at a press briefing held at the Mathare Ghetto Foundation, where community members, families of the missing, and prominent rights advocates gathered to condemn what they described as a surge in enforced disappearances targeting activists in the Mathare area.
Lichuma, a member of the Social Justice Centre, had attended the June 25 maandamano commemorations when he was reportedly picked up.
His mother, Margaret Lichuma, told the press conference that her son had visited home on June 24 and asked her to pray for him, acknowledging that his participation in the protests carried personal risk.
“On June 25 I was told Lichuma had been arrested. Yesterday I was told to go and file a report at Pangani,” she said, adding that others who had been arrested alongside him had since been released, deepening her fears over his fate. She also disclosed that her son had a pre-existing stab wound on his abdomen, raising further concern about his condition and whether he was receiving any medical attention.
The briefing also raised the cases of at least three other missing individuals.
Maximilian, referred to as Maxy, disappeared on June 20 after neighbours said CCTV footage captured a numberplate-less vehicle picking him up from outside his gate as he was preparing to leave for work.
His mother told the press conference she had spoken to him by phone shortly before he went silent. “It has been eight days. We want our children back,” she said.
A third individual identified only as Zizo was reportedly taken on June 23 by men driving a double-cabin vehicle near a piece of land he had recently purchased.
Human rights activist Hussein Khalid said the pattern of abductions pointed directly to state involvement.
“We know Davis Lichuma has been a member of the Social Justice Centre. He was taken in clear violation of his rights. We know those who took them are police,” Khalid said, warning that Kenya was not a police state and that officers could not operate above the law with impunity.
A separate testimony from Salim, who identified himself as a phone repair technician and an MCA aspirant in Kiamaiko, painted a chilling picture of alleged police extortion.
He said armed men arrived at his workplace in a Tiguan, confiscated five phones and threatened him with death before demanding Ksh. 100,000.
He negotiated the amount down to Ksh. 60,000 and paid it to secure his release.
“They told me: even if you don’t have a mistake, we can get one. They also told me today you can have a date with City Mortuary,” he said, adding that his life remained in danger.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga, who attended the briefing in solidarity, delivered a sharp rebuke of the government, saying the disappearances were part of a broader pattern of constitutional disregard.
“We have a government that does not listen to its people, does not respect the constitution, and does not respect the law. Why should police hide their faces? Why conceal their identity?” Maraga said.
He rejected government compensation as an adequate response to the killings and disappearances linked to last year’s protests, saying Kenyans would not accept a situation where the same government that ordered violence against citizens then paid them off using their own tax money.
“The death of over 120 people and abductions will not go without protest. Compensation will not help. We want our children,” he said.
Community organiser Olal said enforced disappearances in Mathare had sharply escalated in recent weeks, with at least four people going missing in the last month alone. He accused the police of shifting tactics from extrajudicial killings to enforced disappearance.
“Mathare must be a safe space for everyone. We are not at peace. We are giving the police and the government 24 hours to produce Lichuma. Failure to which, this country will not be governable,” Olal said.
