Intrigues behind abduction, arrest of Uganda's opposition leader in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya is on the spot yet again for violating international rules by allowing the abduction of a foreign national, Uganda's opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, who was later traced to a military jail in Uganda.

Besigye, a prominent opposition politician in Uganda, is reported to have been kidnapped in an apartment along Riverside Drive in Nairobi before being taken to a Ugandan military jail where he was detained until Wednesday, when he faced charges relating to security and possession of firearms illegally.

The abduction of Besigye has elicited sharp reactions from human rights organizations and the Law Society of Kenya.

Besigye and Haji Lutale were ushered into the General Court Martial Holden at Makindye in Kampala to face the panel of military judges on Wednesday afternoon.

The duo were accused of intent to prejudice the security of the defence forces and possession of firearms and ammunition only licensed for use by the military in Uganda.

His arrival in court brought a sigh of relief to his family as Besigye was reported missing on Saturday while on a trip to Nairobi.

It all started with a tweet from his wife, Winnie Byanyima, on Tuesday morning demanding the release of her husband, who she said was held at a military jail in Uganda after abduction in Nairobi.

Besigye was in the country to attend Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua's book launch last Sunday.

Karua, in response, asked Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and President William Ruto to come clean on the safety and whereabouts of the Ugandan opposition politician.

In a statement to newsrooms, Karua said Besigye arrived in the country on Saturday and checked in at a hotel in Kilimani.

He left the hotel later at around 4 p.m. in the company of Haji Lutale and went for a meeting at 108 Riverside Apartments using a taxi. The two arrived at the apartments between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. and proceeded to an apartment that had been booked an hour earlier for their meeting. The taxi driver was told to wait for them, but the two never returned.

Sources told our reporters that an hour before Besigye and Lutale arrived, an unknown number of men driving a Toyota Prado checked into the apartment.

They left some minutes past 7 p.m. after an altercation with the security guards at the premises. It is believed that the men, who according to our source were foreigners, abducted the two and drove all the way to Kampala, Uganda.

"This is a dangerous precedent that we are picking up as a nation and as a country, we should not be seen as the haven to break laws, that anyone who may be within our jurisdiction, we have opened a wide berth for them to be picked up and subjected to inhuman treatment or torture in any way,” said LSK President Faith Odhiambo.

Besigye, who was to be among the speakers at Karua's book launch titled Against the Tide, was a no-show.

Karua, raised concerns over increased cases of abductions, with some of the cases being blamed on foreign mercenaries.

“People are being abducted by ununiformed officers and foreign mercenaries from the East African Community,” Karua said on Sunday.

The incident comes barely four months after 36 Ugandan citizens affiliated with the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) were abducted in Kisumu and taken to Uganda, where they were allegedly tortured and detained.

The group had travelled to Kenya to attend a leadership workshop and were cleared by immigration officials in both Kenya and Uganda.