Pressure is piling on Ugandan authorities to account for two Kenyan activists who disappeared in Kampala last week, as Kenya steps up diplomatic engagement and civil society groups stage protests demanding their release.
Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo were reportedly abducted by armed men in the Kireka area of Kampala on October 1, and their whereabouts remain unknown more than a week later. The disappearance has triggered public outrage, diplomatic protest notes, and a court petition in Uganda seeking their release.
On Thursday, civil society groups in Kenya, including Kongamano La Mapinduzi, 6.25 Movement, Mosquito Liberation Movement, NUP Kenya Chapter, Vocal Africa, and Free Movement Kenya, held demonstrations outside the Uganda High Commission in Nairobi, demanding that the two be released immediately.
The Kenyan government has also sought answers through diplomatic channels, with limited success so far. Kenya’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Amb. Joash Maangi, met Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Vincent Waiswa on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
“The PS assured that the government is working swiftly to resolve the matter,” Amb. Maangi said in a social media post following the meeting.
The talks followed a diplomatic protest letter dated October 3, in which Kenya formally requested information on the missing activists. In the note verbale, the High Commission informed Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Njagi and Oyoo had been abducted by armed men in Kampala and urged Kampala to help trace them.
“The Mission requests the Ministry’s assistance in liaising with the relevant authorities in Kampala to obtain information regarding the current situation of the missing Kenyans in order for the Mission to take appropriate action in securing their release and safe return to Kenya,” the note read in part.
The letter also indicated that the Kenyan government had received information on the abduction through Vocal Africa, a Nairobi-based civic organization, and from the families of the two activists.
Vocal Africa, which has been leading advocacy efforts, said it will continue to push for accountability. “We need more pressure for our comrades Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo to be released,” said Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid.
Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), and Vocal Africa, issued a joint statement on Tuesday condemning the abduction and calling for the activists’ immediate release.
“Eyewitness accounts indicate that Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo were abducted in Kampala by masked, uniformed, and armed men, suggesting strong evidence of state involvement in their disappearance,” the statement said. It added that the two may be held in military facilities such as Nalufenya in Jinja or the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala.
The groups urged Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to intensify diplomatic efforts to ensure their safe return, describing their continued disappearance as “a blatant violation of Ugandan and international human rights law.”
However, Ugandan police have denied holding the activists. Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said he had not received any briefing indicating that the two were in custody.
The Defenders Coalition also condemned the incident, describing it as part of a worrying trend of cross-border intimidation and disappearances targeting human rights defenders across East Africa.
Recent cases include the arrests of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire in Dar es Salaam in May, and the brief abduction of Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi in Nairobi earlier this year.
In Uganda, two lawyers have filed a habeas corpus petition before the High Court seeking Njagi and Oyoo’s release. The case will be heard on October 14.
Under Ugandan law, suspects must be presented before a court within 48 hours of arrest — a deadline that has long expired for the two missing Kenyans.
