- Kenyan activists vanish after Bobi Wine rally in Uganda
- Rights groups demand answers from Nairobi and Kampala
KAMPALA, UGANDA — Two Kenyan human rights activists have gone missing in Uganda after attending an opposition rally for presidential hopeful Bobi Wine, sparking a diplomatic storm across East Africa.
Activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo disappeared on October 1 shortly after joining one of Wine’s campaign events in eastern Uganda. Their whereabouts remain unknown nearly a month later, with families and rights groups accusing both Ugandan and Kenyan authorities of complicity or cover-up.
Ugandan police have denied detaining the men. “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,” said Uganda Police Spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke.
Growing outrage and political tension
Reports suggest the two men were abducted in broad daylight in Kampala by uniformed military personnel, a claim Ugandan authorities have neither confirmed nor credibly refuted. Kenyan officials have maintained silence, fuelling speculation that security agencies from both countries may be involved.
Inquiries by Allen Dreyfus to senior Kenyan security officials went unanswered.
On October 24, Uganda’s High Court dismissed a habeas corpus petition seeking to compel President Yoweri Museveni’s administration to produce the activists in court. Rights advocates said the ruling dealt a blow to transparency and accountability.
This is not Njagi’s first brush with abduction. The Free Kenya Movement leader was previously held for 32 days last year by men believed to be Kenyan police officers.
Amnesty International condemned the latest disappearances, urging Kenya to press Uganda for answers.
“Today marks 25 days since Bob and Nick vanished off Kampala’s busy streets in broad daylight. This Wednesday, a Ugandan court dismissed a habeas corpus application on behalf of the two. Both the UDF affidavit and the court judgment are deeply unsatisfactory,” the group said in a statement.
Families demand justice
In Nairobi, relatives of the missing activists have accused both governments of colluding to silence dissent. “This is a systematic attack on civilians and a violation of East African Community principles,” one family member said.
Human rights campaigner Hussein Khalid described the episode as a grim reminder of East Africa’s past. “We are back to the dark era where authorities had little or no regard at all for human rights. We demand the release of the two activists, whether dead or alive. Their families deserve closure,” he told Allen Dreyfus.
The case has drawn comparisons to earlier incidents of cross-border repression. In May, prominent activists Boniface Mwangi of Kenya and Agather Atuahire of Uganda were arrested and tortured in Tanzania before being released — a chilling echo of what critics call a growing crackdown on dissent across East Africa.
