Ugandan Military Denies Holding Missing Kenyan Activists

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) have denied detaining two Kenyan nationals, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who went missing in Kampala on 1 October.

In an affidavit filed at the High Court on 21 October, Colonel Silas Kamanda, a senior legal officer in the UPDF, said that the military conducted an internal search and found no evidence that the two men were in its custody. The response was issued following a court order requiring the military to produce Njagi and Oyoo, dead or alive, within seven days. 

That deadline passed without the men being presented. The legal proceedings were initiated by two Ugandan lawyers who filed a habeas corpus application, seeking to hold both the UPDF and the Uganda National Police (UNP) accountable. 

The application followed reports suggesting that the two activists were being held at a military facility in Mbuya, a Kampala suburb known for housing security installations. The UPDF's statement aligns with earlier remarks from the UNP. 

On 6 October, police spokesperson ACP Kituuma Rusoke said he had not been informed of the activists being in police custody and was unaware of their whereabouts. A third man, who claims he was abducted and later released, told lawyers that he witnessed Njagi and Oyoo being taken at gunpoint from a petrol station in Kireka, just outside Kampala. 

His account has contributed to concerns of enforced disappearance, a practice that human rights groups have previously linked to Ugandan security agencies.

Njagi and Oyoo had reportedly travelled to Uganda to attend a meeting with opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine. 

Their disappearance has prompted calls from civil society organisations in both Uganda and Kenya for greater transparency and protection of foreign nationals.

Although the military has denied holding the men, their location remains unknown more than three weeks after they were last seen.