The judges of the Court of Appeal on Tuesday urged the government to locate the missing Kenyans who were allegedly abducted in Mlolongo area in December of last year.
The bench, led by Justice Patrick Kiage, made this call while also declining to suspend the proceedings before High Court Judge Chacha Mwita.
"This is a serious matter. People have been abducted, and if they are not released or brought forward, alive or dead, I question whether it would be appropriate to issue an order for a stay of proceedings," Judge Kiage remarked.
The Inspector General of Police (IG) Douglas Kanja and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohammed Amin had applied to the Court of Appeal to have the proceedings before Judge Mwita suspended.
They argued that the High Court had unjustly issued a habeas corpus order without establishing that the missing persons were in their custody.
"The concern of the IG and DCI is that the high court has condemned them unheard by issuing the order of harbeus corpus. We have an issue with the manner in which the court is proceeding with the matter," Nyamodi said.
Amin and Kanja, who appeared before Judge Mwita last month, denied having the missing individuals in their custody but stated that investigations were ongoing.
What followed was two of them being found dead.
The body of Martin Mwau was found at the Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary) in the same place where the body of Mutumwa Musyoki was discovered.
It emerged that the bodies were delivered to the mortuary on December 17, a day after their abduction from the Mlolongo area.
Karani Muema is yet to be found. With the court of appeal declining to suspend the proceedings before Judge Mwita, the main appeal will now proceed for hearing.
"The motion dated 27 January is marked as compromised on terms that the appeal be fast tracked for hearing before the end of the current term," the court said.
Justices Kiage, Joel Ngugi and Weldon Korir directed the necessary documents be filed within 10 days as the appeal is scheduled for hearing.
