Kenyan government has been cited in the ‘illegal arrest of Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye.
Winnie Byanyima, wife to the prominent opposition figure, Kizza Besigye has revealed that he (Besigye) has been kidnapped and is now being held in a military camp.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Byanyima wrote that her husband had been seized in Kenya’s capital Nairobi last Saturday during a book launch event.
“I am now reliably informed that he is in a military jail in Kampala,” she said, demanding that the government of Uganda release her husband.
“We, his family and his lawyers demand to see him,” his wife wrote on X.
“He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?”
Winnie Byanyima is a human rights advocate and executive director of UNAIDS, the joint UN programme which was set up to eradicate Aids.
Appearing before one of the local television, Chris Baryomunsi, minister of Information, Communications Technology and National Guidance said that he will cross-check with the security and intelligence agencies for his release.
“For now, I can’t confirm or deny whether Dr Kizza Besigye is being held. Let’s give it time I cross-check, but I don’t have that information as of now. In any case, why would Dr Kizza Besigye be arrested? If he is arrested, it would mean there is a reason or charge and he would be produced in courts of law,” Baryomunsi said.
The National Unity Platform principal Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine strongly condemned the abduction of veteran opposition leader Besigye and called out the Kenyan government to refrain from being used as a ground by the Ugandan regime to suppress dissidents.
He called on Ugandans of good conscience to add their voice in condemning the abduction of Dr. Besigye who is a senior leader in the country.
Doreen Nyanjura, Kampala’s Deputy Lord Mayor revealed that Kenya is becoming very unsafe for Ugandans opposing the regime, first it was 36 activists abducted from Kisumu and now Besigye. Adding, “Unconfirmed reports indicate that he was abducted from Nairobi to an unknown place!”
