The judges said a three-judge bench will hear Masengeli’s request, which the trio deemed “reasonable”, on a date determined by the court’s President, Justice Daniel Musinga.

The Court of Appeal has declined an application to suspend a 6-month jail sentence imposed on Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli pending a hearing slated for next week.

A three-judge bench consisting of Justices Aggrey Muchelule, Gatembu Kairu, and Weldon Korir rejected the request by Masengeli’s legal team on Wednesday.

The judges said a three-judge bench will hear Masengeli’s request, which the trio deemed “reasonable”, on a date determined by the court’s President, Justice Daniel Musinga.

“We feel it’s a reasonable request. They have two days within which to file their responses. Both applications will [be] heard together next week,” the bench said.

The judges moved the hearing the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) indicated it was nit ready proceed.

The court was in receipt of two appeals; one by the Attorney General and another by Masengeli.

In his application filed by lawyer Cecil Miller, Masengeli argued that Justice Mugambi convicted him without considering the application he had filed before the court.

He had asked the High Court to suspend the sentence until his case pending determination of the matter.

‘Biased court’

The IG argued the court made the decision in the absence of any formal application for contempt. 

“The judge erred by holding that he (Masengeli) cannot send representatives to explain why the order requiring the production of the missing persons had not [been] complied with,” read court papers.

Masengeli accused Justice Lawrence Mugambi of bias saying the court summons did not require his personal attendance.

“It is in the interest of justice and equity that the application filed be certified urgent and admitted for hearing on priority basis,” Masengeli’s lawyers told court.

Justice Mugambi sentenced Masengeli to six months in jail for repeatedly failing to comply with court summons related to the abduction of three individuals in Kitengela.

Mugambi directed that he submits himself to the Commissioner General of prisons.

He gave Masengeli a seven-day grace period within which he could appear in court to avert the jail term.

“The Acting Inspector General Masengeli can redeem himself by availing himself before this court in person to answer to the issues which he has been avoiding. Failure to do so, the sentence will take effect,” said Mugambi. By Sharon Resian, Capital News

When surrounded by crises, it is easy to ignore the one approaching on the horizon. Yet the international community may be overlooking an emerging threat in the Sahel—one that will gravely impact geopolitics in the region and beyond.

It is no difficulty to find crises across the Sahel and its adjacent neighbourhoods: Economic stagnation, extreme weather and climate degradation, multiple terrorist organizations and jihadist groups claiming territory, a series of military coups and democratic backsliding, various non-jihadist rebel and separatist alliances, a youth bulge and widespread unemployment, and a genocide all compete for sparse outside attention.

Yet, sailing from distant shores comes yet another crisis: An increase in drug trafficking, with flows originating in the Americas, crossing the Atlantic, and making their way into the markets of Europe.

This influx of drugs will have a marked impact, not only on the region itself, but also on the wider world should the worst happen.

The best-case scenario is merely the introduction of additional groups of well-funded armed criminal enterprises with international connections in an already volatile region. The worst-case scenario is the emergence of narco-terrorism on a scale hitherto unheard of and the entrenchment of partnerships between drug smugglers and increasingly well-funded terrorist groups, armed with cash and boasting access to international connections and smuggling routes.

In short, the worst-case scenario is one in which organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) are fueled and financed by one of the largest drug markets in the world. 

A bad situation getting worse 

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), between 2015 and 2020, an average of thirteen kilograms of cocaine was seized per year in the region. In 2021, the amount seized rose to forty-one kilograms. Then in 2022, it spiked to 1,466 kilograms.

In comparison to 2015 seizures, that is an increase of 11,176 percent.

Before complete data for 2023 became available, the UN cited that 2.3 tons (just over two thousand kilograms) of cocaine had been seized in Mauritania alone between January and June 2023. These statistics are alarming, and they don’t even show the full picture: Amounts seized are not amounts trafficked—that amount is likely far higher.  

While domestic drug use is rising across the Sahel, sparking public health crises that are ill-afforded in many countries, the region is becoming a drug trafficking corridor. The drugs are bound for outside markets, with the increase in activity attributed to Europe’s surging demand for illegal narcotics and trafficking groups searching for new routes to markets.

The region is a drug smuggler’s paradise.

Located on the doorstep of Europe and the Middle East, the region is vast and often sparsely populated. It is also riddled with economic deprivation, with an ever-increasing population of youth desperate for opportunity. The countries in the Sahel often have weak governance, widespread corruption, and ongoing battles with insurgents and fundamentalists.

On top of that, Sahelian officials and individuals are vulnerable to the influence of drug gangs—but they are not alone. There are numerous documented cases from across the world of drug gangs using officials to further their work, such as a premier of the British Virgin Islands. Following recent seizures and arrests in the Sahel, the UN expressed concerns about the range of individuals—including the political elite, community leaders, and armed groups—who appear to be involved in facilitating drug trafficking.

While the involvement of key individuals in facilitating drug trafficking is widespread, what makes the situation in the Sahel worrisome are the “armed groups” involved. In Latin America, armed groups facilitating drug trafficking are organizations such as FARC and in Southeast Asia they are militias tied to regional forces or even the drug traffickers themselves. In the Sahel, they are international jihadist organizations, ones with global ambitions and a willingness to export terror and war from their base of operations. 

Worrying signs 

An array of terrorist organizations operate in the Sahel region: Groups include al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Boko Haram.

These groups control vast swaths of land in the Sahel, are expanding and entrenching their control, and are also competing with each other, propelling their searches for more resources. Because of this, they are among the groups that can most stand to financially benefit from the burgeoning drug trade.

While the drug smuggling flows are opaque, the UNODC highlights that the “limited evidence” of violent extremist armed groups involved in drug trafficking “does not mean that such groups are not involved.” These groups, the UNODC adds, are “likely to benefit indirectly” from drug trafficking, explaining that groups such as JNIM and ISGS demand taxes or fees from traffickers in areas where they operate.

Even if these organizations are not directly managing the drug trade, they stand to benefit from the routes and from facilitating drug smugglers’ operations in the territories they control. Such a partnership could be devastating for the region and beyond.

The UNODC notes that information about these groups’ involvement in the drug trade could still emerge. Historically, terrorist and jihadi organizations have embraced a more hands-on approach to the drug trade to fund their organizations and operations. The Taliban in Afghanistan has long been linked to the opium trade (and the drug trade has supported terrorism), ISIS in Syria has produced drugs for market in Europe and smuggles drugs across the Middle East, and Hezbollah has been tied to Columbian drug rings.

With the Sahel becoming an increasingly major drug trafficking corridor, terrorist groups could shift from merely facilitating the drug trade toward actively managing and participating in it, spreading narco-terrorism and expanding the funding for these groups. A war on drugs and narco-terrorism in the Sahel would be a devastating addition to the current war on terror across the region, where 43 percent of global terrorism deaths take place.

A development such as this would not only be dangerous for the Sahel, but for the wider Middle East and Europe as well. Drug routes are known to facilitate other forms of international smuggling and for hiding activities from authorities—ever more dangerous when involving jihadist groups. 

What the West can do 

Unfortunately, the West can’t do much in the Sahel.

Both the United States and the European Union (EU) have retreated from the region, driven away by military juntas that do not share the West’s democratic values and concern for human rights. Various joint military efforts that had been underway to combat terror groups have fallen apart as the United States and EU left the region and lost partners. This is unlikely to change, and if the United States and EU lack the partners necessary to combat jihadist groups in the Sahel, they will likely also lack the ability to combat drug smuggling.

What they can do, however, is support and strengthen partnerships with the costal democracies in West Africa, preventing drugs from entering the Sahel in the first place.

West African democracies are on the frontlines of combating jihadists. Terrorists are attempting to expand operations and territory in countries including Senegal, Benin, Togo, and Ghana.

These democracies are also on the frontlines of combating drug smuggling and are making waves with seizures. For example, last November, Senegal’s navy seized three tons of cocaine that was headed towards Europe. In April this year, the country made headlines for seizing 1,140 kilograms of cocaine (the most ever intercepted on land), which was headed toward Mali. More seizures followed in June.

In Ghana, authorities have also clamped down on trafficking, making headlines after arresting a duo attempting to smuggle an amount of cocaine worth six million dollars through Accra’s airport and to London. On September 7 in Guinea-Bissau, authorities (with help from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and a European organization called the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre) seized 2.6 tons of cocaine that had arrived from Latin America.

As drugs continue to flow, and as the domestic use of drugs continues to rise, West African politicians and societies are just as interested in addressing drug trafficking as the United States and EU are. These West African democracies would be willing partners in combating the twin threats of expanding terrorist groups and a burgeoning drug trade.

Should the Sahel become home to narco-terrorism, the consequences would be catastrophic, not only for the Sahel but for the world. The international community must not ignore yet another crisis. Alexander Tripp is the assistant director for the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center./ Atlantic Council

This culture of violence and disrespect for the law has evidently been passed down to successive regimes.  

In Summary

2024 should not just go down as a dark year in terms of human rights abuses but as the year we refused to accept silence as an answer. We are not just fighting for the victims; we are fighting for the soul of our nation.

2024 should go down in history as one of Kenya's darkest years in terms of human rights abuses, all thanks to some rogue police officers.

To borrow from the streets: "This year has shown us dust." It has proven just how far we’ve fallen in our fight for justice.

In all my years as a practising advocate, it never crossed my mind that court orders could be defied. No, this isn't the biblical story of marching around Jericho.

But here’s where things hit rock bottom. Boby Njagi, Aslam Longton, and Jamil Longton, three men abducted in Kitengela on August 19 by mysterious “unknown” individuals, have never been produced.

The families, left in limbo, have turned to God, while individuals tasked with producing them have offered nothing but silence.

Article 49 of the Constitution guarantees the right to a fair trial and says that anyone arrested or detained should be brought before a court within 24 hours.

No one seems to care.

When families are left with prayers and no answers, perhaps we should all urgently pray to this same God for vengeance.

Article 47 of the Constitution guarantees every Kenyan the right to fair administrative action, but no one seems to care about what the Constitution says.

We have different cases that have touched on violations of human rights.

One of those is that of Baby Pendo who died during the 2017 post-election violence

During the 2017 post-election violence, Baby Pendo’s head was smashed while she lay in her mother’s arms.

Unfortunately, the baby later lost her life.

This culture of violence and disrespect for the law has evidently been passed down to successive regimes

Let’s not forget that some victims of the 2007-2008 post-election violence are still waiting for justice.

Many of these victims, who endured rape, torture, and displacement, continue to be neglected.

To make matters worse, children born from these atrocities are turning 16 this year, and no one has yet to acknowledge their suffering or take steps to repatriate their families.

If Kenya’s justice system remains a revolving door of orders that go unanswered and victims left praying for relief, then we must admit that impunity has triumphed over accountability.

The Constitution promises justice, but what good are promises if they can be ignored?

2024 should not just go down as a dark year in terms of human rights abuses but as the year we refused to accept silence as an answer.

We are not just fighting for the victims; we are fighting for the soul of our nation.

If the rule of law can be disregarded by those sworn to uphold it, then we must ask ourselves: who will stand up when the next court order is ignored, when the next victim disappears, and when justice is denied again? And, more importantly, who will be left to care? By LEAH AOKO, The Star

Leah Aoko is the Programs Associate, Utu Wetu Trust

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will soon launch new biometric passports, Mali's military leader Colonel Assimi Goita said Sunday, as the junta-led states look to solidify their alliance after splitting from regional bloc ECOWAS.

The three Sahel nations, all under military rule following a string of coups since 2020, joined together last September under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), after severing ties with former colonial ruler France and pivoting toward Russia.

They then said in January that they were turning their backs on the Economic Community of West African States — an organization they accused of being manipulated by France.

In July, the allies consolidated their ties with the creation of a Confederation of Sahel States which will be chaired by Mali in its first year and groups some 72 million people.

"In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonizing travel documents in our common area," Goita said during a televised address late Sunday.

"We will be working to put in place the infrastructure needed to strengthen the connectivity of our territories through transport, communications networks and information technology," he said.

The announcement came a day before the three states are due to mark the one-year anniversary of the alliance's creation. The neighbours are all battling jihadi violence that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

The unrest is estimated to have killed thousands and displaced millions across the region. By VOA