By Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. Kenya on 20 May 2025 admitted to assisting in the kidnapping of a Ugandan opposition leader Dr Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe and Hajji Obed Kamulegeya Lutale on its soil in 2024, prompting his lawyer to accuse Nairobi of acting like a “rogue state.” On 16th November 2024, the former president of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Dr Besigye was abducted from Riverside Apartments in Nairobi, Kenya, and forcibly returned to Uganda.On 20th November 2024, Besigye and his associate Lutale appeared before the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) General Court Martial on four counts related to security and were remanded to Luzira prison to date. They were charged with offenses including illegal weapons possession and the concealment of treason, in what the court said were efforts to overthrow the government.
Kenya implicated
Last year, two human rights lawyers filed a petition at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), against the Kenyan and Ugandan governments seeking intervention in the case of political figure Retired Colonel Dr Besigye and Hajji Lutale. The petitioners, including Andrew Karamagi, Godwin Toko and Anthony Odor, who acted on behalf of Dr Besigye, said that the abduction and subsequent trial of the duo in a Ugandan military court violated international law, regional treaties, and fundamental human rights principles. They also pointed to Kenya’s complicity in the abduction. The argument is that Kenya’s failure to prevent or investigate the incident sets a dangerous precedent, eroding the country’s reputation as a haven for democracy and human rights. The petitioners cited similar renditions in recent years, including the abductions of South Sudanese activists, Turkish nationals, and Ethiopians, which have raised concerns about Kenya’s growing role in forced renditions across East Africa.
Kenya denied taking part in kidnapping
Kenya’s government had previously denied any involvement in his abduction. This followed Human rights activists, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) staging a protest in Kenya’s capital Nairobi to protest Dr Besigye detention. The participants chanted calls for Besigye’s freedom and criticized the imprisonment of other political opponents in Uganda. The demonstrators delivered a petition to the National Assembly, urging Kenya’s president William Ruto’s government to take responsibility for Besigye’s alleged abduction and rendition before marching to the Ugandan Embassy, where they reiterated their demands for his release. In December 2025, Kenya’s government said that investigations on how Dr Besigye was spirited out of the country amid growing criticism that it had failed to protect foreign dissidents on its soil. Surprisingly, on 20th November 2024, Uganda’s government spokesperson said that it did not carry out abductions and that arrests abroad were done in collaboration with host countries.
Crime confession
On 20th May 2025, Kenyan Foreign Affairs Secretary Musalia Mudavadi while in a TV interview admitted taking part in Besigye’s abduction “Kenya cooperated with the Ugandan authorities.” Mudavadi justified the action by saying that “(Uganda) is a friendly nation. He (Kizza Besigye) was not seeking asylum. He had not come to say that he was seeking asylum. Had he said that, maybe the treatment would have been different. “We have to partner with our East African states and sometimes we have to manage those relations very carefully for the broader national interest,” he added.
Bombshell
Upon hearing Mudavadi’s admission Kenyan presidential candidate Martha Karua, who is representing Besigye in his treason trial, declare herself “completely scandalised” by Mudavadi’s admission. “Kenya is admitting to being a rogue state,” said Karua, who described the “arrangements of having Kenya security agencies assist in the abduction and rendition” as “completely outside of the law”. “It’s the actions of two rogue states” said Karua. Karua dismissed Mudavadi’s claims of cooperation, saying that it “must be grounded on the rule of law.”
Political allegations
Dr Besigye used to be Uganda’s president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s personal doctor but he went on to become an opposition leader and has referred to Uganda’s leader as a “dictator” Human Rights Activists say Besigye’s abduction and trial for treason, which carries a potential death penalty, are linked to next January’s election, when Museveni, 80, will once again seek re-election. Uganda’s Supreme Court on 31 January 2025, ruled that the General Court Martial (GCM) has no jurisdiction to try civilians, declaring its involvement in such cases unconstitutional. Besigye’s case was moved to a civilian court after he went on hunger strike earlier this year. However, on 2oth, Ugandan Members of Parliament passed a controversial bill authorising military tribunals for civilians, bypassing a Supreme Court ruling issued in January. Uganda’s oppositions have always criticized the collaboration between Kenyan and Ugandan authorities, particularly for bypassing extradition laws. “The abduction of Ugandan citizens from Kenya and handing them over to the regime in Uganda without following extradition laws must be condemned. Besigye’s abduction happened just a few months ago when 36 other activists were abducted from Nairobi and brought back to Uganda in utter violation of the law.
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