Activists call for release of Njagi, Oyoo

Two activists were arrested on Tuesday as civil society continued to sustain pressure on the Kenyan and Ugandan governments to ensure the release of their counterparts, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo.

Julius Kamau and Mulinge Muteti were arrested as they sought to access the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have an audience with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.

Some other activists were denied entry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they had staged a protest.

There was another protest at the Uganda High Commission in Nairobi.

Kongamano la Mapinduzi spokesperson Sungu Oyoo termed the developments as disheartening and accused the government of being deaf to the cries and the voices of the people.

“Almost one month after the abduction of Njagi and Oyoo, the government is yet to do anything to ensure their release. All our previous engagements with the ministry aimed at getting action on this matter have gone unheeded,’ Sungu said.

Consequently, Sungu said it was time to escalate their actions to “strategic and mass protests” for them to get responses, even as he regretted the escalating cases of abductions in the East African region. 

Njagi and Oyoo were reportedly abducted in Kampala on October 1, when they attended opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine’s campaign rally.

They have been missing since then, and the police and the military have denied holding them. The High Court in Kampala on Wednesday dismissed a habeas corpus application, and instead directed the petitioners — Eron Kiiza and Kato Tumusiime — to file a missing person report.

This is despite witness accounts indicating the duo was taken by armed individuals and forced into a van often used by security agents.

Speaking on Spice FM on Tuesday, former LSK president Nelson Havi condemned the disappearance, saying by the virtue of the two holding EAC passports, they have the right to travel freely across the region.

“As a community governed by the rule of law, if they are suspected of any crime, they should be arraigned before a Ugandan court so that we can know the crimes they are accused of and the charges they face,” Havi said.

He added that President William Ruto and Mudavadi appear reluctant to address the case.

“We are able to perceive the reluctance on the part of Ruto and Mudavadi to act on this matter. But we are saying we, the people of Kenya, are sovereign.

"You (Ruto and Mudavadi) are in office by a decision made by the people, who have delegated power to you. So as you sit as the EAC chairperson, you also need to protect Kenyans,” Havi said.