Kenyans have threatened to hold country wide protests in Kenya over the abduction of two Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo over a week ago reportedly by armed men following National Unity Platforms (NUP) Principal Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine’s rally in Kaliro district.
According to Bobi Wine,Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, both leaders in the Free Kenyan Movement as Chairperson and Secretary General respectively were abducted on 1st October by heavily armed men in Kireka, Kira Municipality-Wakiso district and have been missing since.
On Friday, activists marched peacefully to the Ugandan embassy in Kenya to demand the release of the Kenyan activists who were abducted in Kampala last week and gave the government of Uganda an ultimatum of 24 hours to produce the duo.
During an Agora Discourse X Space on Rampant abductions and disappearances in East Africa hosted this week by Lawyer and activist, Agather Atuhaire, Kenyan human rights activist and Lawyer Hussein Khalid revealed that the Free Kenya Movement had issued a notice to protest if the whereabouts of Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo remain unknown.
“These are two individuals who are more or less harmless to whatever is happening in Uganda, I don’t think Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo would have made Museveni win or loose for that, they are not politicians in the first place” he said.
He added, “Yes they are influential, yes, they are activists and have relations with other activists and NUP followers in Uganda but it wasn’t something that would warrant a whole government abducting and have a diplomatic turf with a neighboring country. The fact that it has happened, I believe there’s some complicity in the Kenyan government in allowing this to continue”.
No East African Country is Safe for Political Activists
Khalid said the fear of the backlash from citizens in their own countries has seen the East African governments start cooperating to abduct political activists.
“If you abduct Agatha in Uganda, then the Ugandan people would be very angry and the repercussions might be huge compared to if it’s another government that has done it for you. Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo could have been problems in kenya but if the Kenyan government had abducted them, then Kenyans wouldn’t have allowed that to pass like that, so what you do is get your neighbor to do the dirty work for you” he said.
The activist noted that the region presidents have allegedly contracted criminal security agents to abduct citizens and silence dissent in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
“it’s no longer a struggle in one country by themselves, Kenya by itself, Uganda by its self and Tanzania by itself, it’s very clear now that our governments are working together to suppress our freedoms, violate our rights” he said.
Human rights lawyer Eron kiiza noted that the region was no longer safe for critics of governments in the region since the governments are
“For people who are being targeted, moving within East Africa is becoming dangerous because it appears to attract a certain and unique vulnerability, when you move out of the country, you now seem more susceptible to these abductions lately than probably when your at home” he said.
He added, “When it comes to Dr Besigye, even these two Kenyans, one wonders why they were not arrested until they moved out of their country, to the neighbouring country and then they became very easy targets”.
Even though he cast doubt on fairness of Judicial remedies to solve abductions over alleged control of the Judiciary by the state, Kiiza noted that court remedies were the only option for political prisoners to run to.
“Judicial remedies are weak but they are not useless and they are the only civilized method of holding the state accountable, interacting with the state in a civilized way, so we have to use them as they are even though we wish they were better, swift, more robust and independent” he said.
While addressing media recently, the Uganda Police Spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke denied the force having the Kenyan activists in their custody.
“Kenyan activists who came to join a rally in Uganda and are alleged to have disappeared, I am not briefed by police that they have them in our custody,” Rusoke said.
Kituuma added, “At the moment, I don’t have any information to the effect that they are in police custody, nor do I have any information that they are accused by police. If I had, I would volunteer it here without any reservation”.
On Friday, NUP Principle Robert Kyagulanyi also took to his X account to express his disappointment at the long detention of the two Kenyan activists and called for their release.
“WHAT A COUNTRY! To imagine that Uganda’s rogue regime has refused to release Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo from incommunicado detention is most unfortunate”…. Despite demands by citizens and rights groups, the criminal regime still refuses to release them or account for them”
He added, “Their crime? Coming to Uganda to express solidarity with our cause for democratic governance. This has been the fate of thousands of our supporters, including 18 people who have been missing for over 5 years now”.
Even though the abducted activists lawyers Kiiza & Mugisha Co Advocates recently filed a habeas corpus application to produce the duo dead or alive before the Civil Division of the High Court, it’s not yet clear when the court would hear the application.
According to reports, the Kenya High Commission in Kampala inquired about the activists’ whereabouts following petitions from Vocal Africa and the families of the activists, though no response had been confirmed.
