Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has publicly acknowledged for the first time that two Kenyan activists — who disappeared in Uganda for more than five weeks — had in fact been arrested and detained by authorities, despite earlier official denials.
Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo vanished after attending a political gathering in support of Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine. Witnesses reported seeing armed masked men force the pair into a vehicle. Human rights groups and the Kenyan government repeatedly demanded answers as Ugandan officials insisted they had no knowledge of the men’s whereabouts.
Speaking during a live television interview on Saturday, Museveni described the pair as “experts in riots” and said they had been placed “in the fridge for some days” — a comment widely interpreted to mean they were held in isolation or secret detention. The president suggested they were released only after calls from unnamed Kenyan officials.
Njagi and Oyoo arrived back in Nairobi on Saturday. They told reporters they believed they might not survive the ordeal, alleging they were held by military forces and denied contact with lawyers or consular officials.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi confirmed their release followed “sustained diplomatic engagement” between Nairobi and Kampala.
Rights organisations including Amnesty International, the Law Society of Kenya and Vocal Africa — which led a campaign for their freedom — welcomed the development, and urged East African governments to stop targeting activists across borders. Vocal Africa said the case should mark a turning point for human rights protections within the East African Community.
Bobi Wine, real name Robert Kyagulanyi, who is set to challenge Museveni in elections next year, accused Kampala of targeting the two Kenyans because they publicly supported him. “If they committed any offence, why were they not produced before court?” he asked on X.
Uganda’s security forces have long been accused of abducting opposition supporters, detaining them incommunicado, and later producing selective criminal charges — a pattern mirrored in other recent incidents across the region. Last year, Njagi himself was abducted inside Kenya and later reappeared after a court intervened. Other activists from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have reported similar cross-border detentions, torture, and forced disappearances — raising growing concerns about deepening repression and security collaboration among East African governments.
Source:Africa Publicity
