Last night on JK Live, Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo delivered a chilling account of their abduction, interrogation and 39-day detention in Uganda. Their revelations paint a stark picture of cross-border repression and political pressure.
Abduction & detention
Njagi and Oyoo travelled to Uganda ostensibly for business and tourism-scouting purposes. Njagi told the show:
“I have some Canadian friends who are bound to come to Kenya in January and they asked me if I can take them to see gorillas in Uganda… So I thought that if I go there in advance, I would be able to look at the good places to take them.”
He added that he was hoping to meet former Ugandan Health Minister Michael Mukula (with whom he had business ties during the COVID-19 pandemic) and participate in social/political activism through his Kenyan group.
But only two days into their trip, the duo say they were abducted by unidentified men believed to belong to Uganda’s elite Special Forces Command (SFC).
“We got there and by the second day we were abducted; we were planning to stay for at least a week and then come back as East African citizens.”
They were held at a military-linked facility, interrogated about alleged WhatsApp communications and involvement in youth mobilisation against the government. Njagi said:
“On the second day… they ask you specific questions about the groups you’re in. When they think you’ve not said what they should hear… they start caning and punching you.”
Oyoo confirmed he was caned multiple times and cuffed to a chair when he failed to provide the “right answers”.
Allegations & the narrative
The activists say the Ugandan authorities acted on what they describe as false intelligence that the pair had come to Uganda to mobilise youth for opposition efforts.
“I think they had been given wrong intelligence, thinking that we were on a mission to mobilise the youth… They had 38 days of doing investigations but have not taken us to court or charged us with any crimes to date.” — Njagi
At the same time, Njagi and Oyoo described their Kenyan organisation’s political ties:
“Politically, we have interactions with the National Unity Party here in Kenya for many years, since 2018 … you remember the Free Bobi Wine protests in Nairobi; that was the Free Kenya Movement. And we joined him in protests and thereafter he has visited Kenya twice.”
They stated their presence at Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine’s event was in solidarity, not as covert operatives.
Release & appeal
The two were eventually released after 39 days, following diplomatic pressure from the Kenyan government, Amnesty International, and the regional rights group Vocal Africa.
Njagi used the JK Live platform to urge the Ugandan government to free all political detainees including opposition figures such as Kizza Besigye and Amos Rwangomani.
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