In Kenya, people are being taken against their will. This is causing a lot of fear. It is important to understand what is happening and why.
There are different reasons why people are being kidnapped. Some are taken by criminals who want money. Others are taken because of their political beliefs. Terrorist groups have also been known to take people. And some are victims of human trafficking.
Reports show that more people are being taken now than in the past. From June to December 2024, there were 82 cases. Twenty-nine people are still missing. This has made many people worry about their safety.
A few things are making this problem worse. Poverty and no jobs can push people to crime. They might see kidnapping as a way to get quick...
Kenya's High Court Orders Release of Six Allegedly Abducted.
The High Court of Kenya wants six people freed right away. The court says state officials may have taken them against their will.
Gideon Kibet and Bernard Kavuli are two of the six people. The Law Society of Kenya is working to help them. They filed a case saying the individuals were being held illegally.
On Monday, Justice Bahati Mwamuyé said let them go for now. The court will have a full hearing later. Justice Mwamuyé thinks this could be a forced disappearance. That would be against their rights.
The judge told police to bring the six people to court on Tuesday. The hearing will be at the Milimani High Court at 11:00 a.m. If they aren't brought, officials have to...
Kenya's Tax Office Gets New Boss.
Kenya's tax office is called the Kenya Revenue Authority, or KRA for short. It just got a new leader. His name is Ndiritu Muriithi.
Muriithi held a special ceremony on Monday. He promised to improve the KRA, making it more fair and helpful.
"I want the KRA to be a place people can trust," Muriithi said. "It should be a place where everyone is treated the same."
Muriithi said the KRA will work hard to do a good job, follow the rules, and try new things to help people pay their taxes.
Muriithi wants the KRA to be friends with many different groups. He thinks this will help strengthen the country's economy.
"We will keep talking to people," he said. "We want to find ways to make paying taxes easier...
Kenyans Protest Abductions from Far Away.
Some Kenyans who live in Darwin, Australia, did something important on Monday. They went out into the streets to tell the Kenyan government to stop the bad things that were happening there.
They are very worried. They said that many young people in Kenya are being taken away. They are taken against their will. No one knows where they go.
The Kenyans in Australia think this is wrong. They want it to stop. They made signs and posters. The signs said the government must help. The signs said the young people must come home to their families.
The Kenyans in Australia are afraid. They think the government is taking people for political reasons and don't like it when people say bad things about the...
Police Take Protesters in Kenya's Capital.
On Monday, there was trouble in Nairobi, and so were other people who care about human rights. They think the government has been taking people away, and they don't like that. They want it to stop.
The protesters went out into the streets. They wanted to tell everyone how they felt. But the police didn't want them to protest. They tried to make them leave. The protesters wouldn't go.
The police threw tear gas at the protesters. It made some of them very sick. They had to go to the hospital. The police grabbed Senator Omtatah and the others. They put them in vans and drove away.
Senator Omtatah was not happy. He said getting arrested wouldn't stop him. He said he'd keep protesting until the...
Kenya's Counties Struggle to Meet Money Goals.
Kenya has 47 counties, each with its own government. These governments are supposed to collect money to help pay for things like schools, hospitals, and roads, but a new report says they are having a hard time doing that.
The report is from Margaret Nyakang'o, the Controller of Budget. She tracks how the counties spend their money.
Nyakang'o says all the counties set goals for how much money they wanted to collect this year. They were aiming high, but not a single county was able to collect as much as they hoped.
Some countries did worse than others. Nairobi, the biggest city, wanted to receive 20 billion shillings—that's a lot! But they only collected 2.1 billion. Mombasa and Kiambu...
Kenya's Ex-Top Judge Speaks Out Against Violence.
David Maraga used to be Kenya's Chief Justice, which is like being the top judge in the country. As the new year started, he had an important message for Kenyans.
Maraga is very worried. He said many bad things happened to Kenyans this year. People were hurt and killed. Some were taken away by the government and never seen again.
Maraga said this has to stop. He wants Kenya to follow its Constitution. The Constitution is a set of rules that the whole country agreed to follow back in 2010.
"We have to stand up for what's right," Maraga said. "We can't let our politics be so mean and cruel."
He said the Constitution was supposed to improve Kenya, stop people in power from doing...
A Young Man Goes Missing in Embu, Kenya.
Billy Munyiri Mwangi is a college student. He is 24 years old. He lives in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
On December 21, Billy went to visit his family in Embu. He was waiting to get his hair cut at a barber shop when suddenly, a white truck pulled up. Four men jumped out. They wore hoods to hide their faces.
The men grabbed Billy. They forced him into their truck. Billy asked why they were taking him. "You will know later," they said. Then they drove away with him.
This happened very close to the barber shop, about 400 meters away. Right after Billy was taken, his phone was turned off.
Billy's family is very upset. They don't know why this happened to him. His mother, Regina, cried as she...
Kenya's Ex-Deputy President Disagrees with Ruto on Abductions.
Rigathi Gachagua used to be Kenya's Deputy President. On Sunday, he said something important. He thinks President William Ruto is wrong about the abductions happening in Kenya.
Ruto said the abductions may be happening because young people are not behaving well. He thinks they make fun of leaders too much on social media. He wants parents to do a better job of teaching their kids to be good citizens.
But Gachagua doesn't agree. He says the government's main job is to keep people safe, and it shouldn't blame parents for what's going on.
"Nothing makes these abductions okay," Gachagua said. "The government has to protect people. It can't use bad youth behavior as an excuse...
