By Kabuye Ronald
Opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye has gone missing after being reportedly abducted from Nairobi, Kenya, over the weekend, sparking outrage and concern from his family, political allies, and human rights organizations. His wife, Winnie Byanyima, who is also the executive director of UNAIDS, has claimed that her husband is being held in a military detention facility in Uganda and has called on the government to release him immediately.
Dr. Besigye, a prominent figure in Uganda’s opposition politics, had been in Nairobi to attend the book launch of Kenyan Opposition leader Martha Karua when he was reportedly abducted on Saturday evening at Riverside, Nairobi. According to Byanyima, she has since learned that her husband is now detained in a military jail in Kampala, Uganda.
“We demand to see him. He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?” Byanyima said in a statement, calling the situation a grave violation of her husband’s rights.
Ugandan authorities and security officials have remained silent on the matter, with no official comment issued at the time of writing. The circumstances surrounding Besigye’s abduction remain unclear, with opposition members at his political base in Uganda’s Katonga Road expressing concern. Wafula Oguttu, a senior figure in Dr. Besigye’s camp, confirmed the abduction, stating, “It happened on Saturday evening. We have not yet established who took him, but it is an abduction.”
The mystery of Dr. Besigye’s disappearance has raised alarms, especially given that the Ugandan government has previously been accused of using extreme measures to stifle opposition voices. This alleged abduction comes months after 36 members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, to which Besigye belongs, were arrested in Kenya and secretly transferred back to Uganda, where they faced treason-related charges. They were only recently granted bail.
The incident has highlighted ongoing tensions between Uganda’s government and its opposition, as well as the complex dynamics between Uganda and Kenya regarding the treatment of political figures. While Besigye’s alleged abduction raises serious concerns about political repression in Uganda, it also casts a shadow over Kenyan authorities, accused of complicity in allowing Ugandan dissidents to be unlawfully detained and extradited.
In response to the disappearance, National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, condemned the alleged abduction, calling for Dr. Besigye’s immediate release. Kyagulanyi denounced the act as a “blatant abuse of the law” and compared it to Uganda’s dark past of political repression, when citizens were often forcibly abducted from neighboring countries and subjected to torture, imprisonment, or execution.
Kyagulanyi further criticized the Kenyan government for its failure to uphold the rule of law, stating, “The abduction of Ugandan citizens from Kenya and handing them over to the regime in Uganda without following extradition laws must be condemned by all people of good conscience!”
The disappearance of Dr. Besigye has sparked widespread condemnation, drawing attention to the ongoing dangers faced by opposition figures in both Uganda and Kenya. As of now, both the Ugandan and Kenyan governments have yet to provide any official response regarding Besigye’s whereabouts. Human rights organizations and international observers are closely monitoring the situation, calling for urgent action to ensure the safety and well-being of Dr. Besigye and other political dissidents in the region.
