Kenyan activists missing in Uganda found safe after five weeks
Human rights groups in Kenya say two activists who disappeared five weeks ago in neighboring Uganda have returned safely.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo forced into a car by masked men in uniform after a political event where they supported Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine.
On Saturday, activist organization Vocal Africa confirmed that the men were safe and were being transported from Busia in Uganda to Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
“May this moment mark an important shift towards respecting the human rights of East Africans throughout the East African Community,” the organization wrote on its Instagram page.
Ugandan police denied the men were in custody, but Kenyan rights groups have pressured Ugandan authorities to release them.
In a joint statement, Vocal Africa, the Law Society of Kenya and Amnesty International thanked the Kenyan and Ugandan governments, activists, journalists, diplomats and “all active citizens who campaigned tirelessly for this moment.”
Former pop star Bobi Wine is running in next year’s presidential elections, challenging President Yoweri Museveni, 80, who has been in power since 1986.
Wine accused the Ugandan government of targeting the two Kenyans because they associated with him.
Ugandan security agencies have often been accused of orchestrating the detention of opposition politicians and supporters while not in uniform. Some of those arrested later reappeared in court to face criminal charges.
The latest disappearances reflect past incidents involving politicians and activists across the East African region.
Last year, Njagi was arrested in Kenya by masked men during a wave of kidnappings believed to have targeted critics of the country’s government.
It resurfaced a month later, after a court ordered police to produce it. He then recounted the appalling conditions of his captivity, where he said he was often isolated and deprived of food.
Earlier this year, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and his Ugandan counterpart Agather Atuhaire were arrested in Tanzania and held incommunicado for several days before being abandoned at their respective national borders.
They then described being brutally mistreated, including sexually tortured, by Tanzanian authorities – allegations that police described as “hearsay.”
Last year, another Ugandan opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, mysteriously disappeared in Nairobi only to reappear four days later before a Ugandan military court, where he faces treason charges.
The cases have since sparked widespread condemnation and concerns that East African governments could work together to contain dissent.
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