FIVE young Kenyan men – including a popular cartoonist – who went missing just before the Christmas holidays have been found alive, family members and rights groups say.
Kenya has been gripped by a wave of disappearances, with the state-funded rights group saying that over 80 people have been abducted in the last six months.
The abductions generally target government critics and are widely believed to be the work of security agents, although the authorities have not admitted responsibility.
They began in June last year during nationwide anti-tax protests, but increased in December, when AI-generated photos of the president in a coffin were widely shared.
The youth-led protests forced President William Ruto to withdraw a series of planned tax rises and shook his government, leaving his authority badly undermined.
Kibet Bull, known for his silhouette cartoon memes critical of the president, announced his release on Monday afternoon on X to much fanfare.
He told his 105,000 followers that he had been dropped off in the town of Luanda, nearly 370 km (229 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, where he was last seen in December.
Kibet Bull said straight after he was released he went to a disco.
His mother told the BBC she “rejoiced” after she heard the news that her son had returned.
“I gave him a call and we talked, we didn’t talk much, the moment he told me ‘I am Kibet’ and I heard his voice, I screamed, I celebrated until he hung up,” she said.
