IN SHORT: A photo on social media is being reposted with the claim it shows Kenyan IT expert Ndiang’ui Kinyagia, found dumped and unconscious after his mysterious disappearance. But the man in the photo has been identified and Kinyagia has not been found.
A photo doing the rounds on Kenyan social media since 1 July 2025 shows an unconscious disheveled man lying on the ground.
The caption reads: “DCI denies holding missing blogger Ndiangui Kinyagia, urges him to surrender, but finally found dumped in kuaka.”
Ndiangui Kinyagia, a 35-year-old information technology expert, has been missing since 21 June 2025, following a raid by armed officers believed to be from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). Kinyagia was vocal about mobilising support for the 25 June protests.
On 30 June the DCI denied holding Kinyagia and urged him to surrender to the authorities. Since the June 2024 anti-finance bill protests Kenya has witnessed a wave of reported abductions and torture of youth leaders by state officials.
In May 2025, while previously having denied claims of state-sanctioned abductions, president William Ruto said: “All the people who disappeared or were abducted have been brought back to their homes. I have given clarity that nothing of that nature will happen again.”
The photo of the man claimed to be Kinyagia has also been shared here, here and here. But is it of him and has he been found?
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