Human rights activist Collins Otieno has been found alive and is receiving treatment after reportedly disappearing while trying to establish the whereabouts of fellow activist Boniface Mulinge Muteti.
Otieno was discovered along Thika Road at about 4:30 am on Saturday, September 26, according to Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid.
Khalid said a boda boda rider found Otieno and rushed him to Neema Uhai Hospital in the Kasarani area.
“Comrade Collins Otieno has been found. He was dumped along Thika Road. A good Samaritan boda boda guy found him around 4.30am and rushed him to hospital,” Khalid said.
He said Otieno was in a weak and disoriented state and had sustained injuries.
“Like comrade Muteti, Collins is disoriented, weak, and injured. He is presently at Neema Uhai Hospital around Kasarani receiving treatment,” Khalid added.
Otieno’s disappearance came days after he and other activists were arrested during demonstrations in Nairobi’s Central Business District over the continued detention of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye.
According to fellow activists, Otieno later sought help to trace Muteti, who disappeared on September 21 after leaving protesters in Nairobi CBD to print a petition.
Muteti was found alive in the Lukenya area of Machakos on Friday, September 25, also reportedly injured, weak and disoriented. His discovery came after several days of uncertainty over his whereabouts.
The circumstances surrounding Otieno’s disappearance, including where he was between the time he went missing and his discovery along T-hika Road, remain unclear.
By the time of Khalid’s announcement, no detailed account of what happened to him had been provided.
The developments have intensified scrutiny around the two activists, who were separately reported missing after the September 21 demonstrations.
Before Otieno was found, Khalid had publicly demanded information about his whereabouts.
“Where is our comrade Collins Otieno??? Activism and human rights defence are not a crime. We demand his immediate release,” Khalid said in an earlier statement.
For now, Otieno remains in hospital as questions persist over how he ended up injured along Thika Road and what happened during the period he could not be traced.
