By Our Writer
KAMPALA
The two Kenyan human rights activists and close ally of Uganda opposition leader Robert Kyaggulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine who were reportedly abducted in Kampala haven’t yet surfaced..
On Thursday BBC reported that the twowere abducted by armed men while attending opposition leader Bobi Wine’s campaign event.
Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo,’s abduction was immediately condemned by Mr Ssentamu as unlawful and called for their release.He said they were targeted for only associating with him.
However police spokesman Kituma Rusoke told the BBC the two were not in their custody.
Until Friday afternoon their whereabout was still unknown.
Kenya’s Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said that foreign affairs officials were working to ensure their safe release.
In a joint open letter to the Ugandan High Commission, the Law Society of Kenya, rights organisations Amnesty International Kenya and Vocal Africa said the latest incident was “yet another alarming case in a pattern of abductions and enforced disappearances” in the region.
The organisations have called on Ugandan authorities to disclose the whereabouts of the Kenyan activists and ensure their safety.
When contacted by the BBC, army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye said he could not speak about the matter because it was an allegation involving non-uniformed “security operatives”.
He also tasked Bobi Wine to prove the allegations of abduction and which security agency was involved.
Ugandan security agencies have often been accused of orchestrating the detention of opposition politicians and supporters while not in uniform. Some of those arrested have later resurfaced in court facing criminal charges.
A fellow activist who witnessed what happened on Wednesday afternoon said that four armed men forced the pair into a vehicle and sped off.
“There were four of them. There was also a lady who was seated in front; they took Bob and Oyoo Ochieng, who is the secretary general of the Free Kenya Movement,” the witness, who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Kenya’s Citizen TV.
He said both were unreachable on phone and their whereabouts were unknown.
Videos shared online show Njagi actively participating in Bobi Wine’s campaign, and appears on stage beside the opposition leader.
The activists had reportedly travelled to Uganda on Monday with some Ugandans before linking up with the campaign.
Njagi was also picked up in Kenya last year by masked men during a wave of abductions believed to have been targeting government critics in the country.
He remained missing for over a month before resurfacing, after a court ordered police to produce him. He later recounted the harrowing conditions in captivity – isolated and denied food for most of the days.
