Africa-Press – Kenya. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is under pressure to act over the disappearance of two Kenyan activists in Uganda on October 1.
Civil society and legal minds have raised issues over the silence by the Foreign Affairs ministry, even after the police and the military in Uganda denied holding activist Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who have been missing for more than three weeks now.
On Wednesday, Uganda High Court judge Simon Peter Kinobe dismissed a Habeas corpus petition seeking to compel the state to produce the duo.
“I find that one cannot squeeze blood from a stone. The state can only produce what it has, and it would therefore be unrealistic to expect the desired outcome from circumstances that could not, in any case, yield it.
“I would therefore categorise the applicants as missing persons. A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed, as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, or death,” Justice Kinobe said.
He added that in Uganda, the police are the default agency charged with leading an investigation into cases of missing persons. Consequently, he asked the petitioners to file a missing person’s report with the Uganda Police Force.
“In the circumstances, I dismiss this application with no mention as to costs,” the judge ruled.
Activists led by Vocal Africa’s Odhiambo Ojiro on Thursday staged a protest outside the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, demanding the release of Njagi and Oyoo.
Vocal Africa also wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanding that it takes decisive action to bring back Njagi and Oyoo.
In a letter addressed to PS Korir Sing’oei, Vocal Africa regretted that more than three weeks have passed since their disappearance, and neither the government of Uganda nor the Kenyan government has provided any credible update on their whereabouts or safety.
“This prolonged silence and inaction have compounded the anguish of their families and heightened fears of cross-border repression in the East African region,” Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid said.
He added that while they had acknowledged the initial diplomatic engagements by the Kenyan authorities, they now fear that diplomacy has failed.
“Uganda’s continued silence and lack of cooperation cannot be met with passive diplomacy any longer. We therefore call on the Government of Kenya to take stern and decisive action against the Government of Uganda for its failure to account for the whereabouts of the two Kenyan nationals,” Khalid said.
Vocal Africa called for the Kenyan government to issue a formal and firm diplomatic protest to the government of Uganda, demanding the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of the duo.
The lobby group also called for the government to activate regional and international human rights mechanisms, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to investigate the cross-border disappearance.
“Review Kenya’s bilateral relations with Uganda and consider stronger measures until justice is served and the two Kenyans are safely returned,” it said.
Attempts to get a comment from PS Sing’oei were futile as he did not return calls and messages.
To pressure the two governments to act, lawyer Nelson Havi, former LSK president, called on Kenyans to protest and barricade the Foreign Affairs ministry and Uganda High Commission in Nairobi.
“Let the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Foreign Affairs tell us what steps and action have been taken to secure the release of the two Kenyans. Let the High Commissioner of Uganda in Kenya tell us what they have done to establish the whereabouts of these Kenyans,” Havi said.
Lawyer Eric Theuri, who is also a former LSK president, said the government must actively pursue the return of Njagi and Oyoo.
“Being a citizen of Kenya must surely mean something. It shouldn’t matter your views or whether the establishment likes you or not. To behave as if some Kenyans are not worth their birth rights is completely unacceptable,” Theuri said.
Kenya Human Rights Commission has also weighed in on the matter, saying they are aware that the Ugandan regime is detaining the two activists.
“We demand their immediate release. Furthermore, the silence of global partners, especially those funding security cooperation, makes them complicit in the erosion of rights they claim to protect,” KHRC said.
For More News And Analysis About Kenya Follow Africa-Press
