Brussels 23.03.2026 Former Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju has been arrested a day after he was reported to have disappeared, leading to fears he may have been abducted.(Image: illustration)

Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin said in a press conference that Tuju was inside his residence the whole time, describing it as a “carefully staged disappearance rather than a genuine case of abduction”.

Mohammed Amin: When confronted with the reality that police were closing in on the truth and that his deception could no longer be sustained, Mr. Tuju chose to resurface, thereby confirming the investigators’ earlier well-founded suspicion that this was a carefully staged… pic.twitter.com/qJaVpjoySi

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) March 23, 2026

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Just before his arrest, Tuju had told local station Citizen TV that he had gone into hiding after being followed by an unmarked vehicle.

UPDATE: Former Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju has resurfaced a day after his reported disappearance, which led to fears he may have been abducted.

Speaking to local Citizen TV station on Monday afternoon, he said he had gone into hiding after being followed by an unmarked… https://t.co/FXKnOcwKAb

— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) March 23, 2026

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The former minister has been embroiled in a long-running legal battle contesting the auction and takeover of his properties in Nairobi over an unsettled bank loan.

Amin said: “The deliberate conduct by Raphael Tuju appears to be a calculated effort to deceive the public to generate unwarranted sympathy and to undermine the integrity of the National Police Service.”

He added that the police view “the provision of false information to authorities as a very, very serious offence”.