Kenya Investigates Alleged Kidnapping of Ugandan Opposition Leader Besigye

Kenyan authorities were on Thursday investigating the alleged abduction from Nairobi of the prominent Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye after he appeared at a military court in Kampala.

Besigye, the former president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), was charged at the Makindye General Court Martial with possessing an illegal firearm four days after he disappeared in the Kenyan capital.

The 68-year-old will remain in custody at Luzira Prison, south-eastern Kampala, until 2 December with FDC member Hajj Lutale Kamulegeya, who was also charged with the same offence.

Uganda’s government spokesperson said on Wednesday that it did not carry out abductions and that arrests abroad were done in collaboration with host countries.

In a TV interview on Wednesday night, Korir Sing’oei, principal secretary at Kenya’s foreign ministry, said Besigye’s detention was not the act of the Kenyan government.

Investigation

Sing’oei added: “The Kenyan interior ministry has begun an investigation into how Besigye has been forcefully removed from premises in our country and taken to Uganda.”

On Saturday, Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, claimed he had been kidnapped while in Nairobi to attend a book launch.

“As a civilian, Dr Besigye should be tried in a civilian court NOT a military court,” Byanyima wrote on the social media platform X.

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Accept Manage my choices Besigye was the personal physician of Yoweri Museveni during the guerrilla war of the 1980s, but became one of his fiercest critics once he seized power in Uganda.

The allegations of kidnapping and the court appearance have fuelled criticism of Kenya’s record on human rights and international law.

In July, Kenyan authorities deported 36 members of Besigye’s political party to Uganda, where they were charged with terrorism-related offences. Last month, Kenya deported four Turkish refugees to Ankara.

James Risch, the ranking member on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on X that Besigye’s abduction raises serious questions about important US partners violating international norms.

Tigere Chagutah, the regional director of the human rights campaign group Amnesty International, said: “Amnesty International is deeply disturbed by the abduction of Dr Besigye as well as the lack of an extradition process from Kenya.

“The Ugandan government has a track record of systematically cracking down on opposition political parties through abductions, arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions on trumped-up charges.

“Amnesty International strongly believes that Dr Besigye’s abduction is designed to send a chilling message to those whose opinions dissent from the Ugandan government. These practices must stop.”

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