The government has cleared the air regarding the alleged abduction of Ugandan opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, amid mounting criticism over the rising cases of abductions of foreign nations in Kenya.
Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Korir Sing'Oei, while appearing on Citizen TV on Wednesday, November 20, denied Kenya’s involvement in Besigye’s abduction and subsequent deportation to his home country.
“From the reports I am gathering, is that Besigye was abducted from an apartment in Nairobi. The reality, though, is that this is not an act of the Kenyan government. It is not an act by our security officials,” he stated.
Sing’Oei further went on to state that the government was not aware of Besigye’s impending travel to the country. “The circumstances surrounding Besigye’s travel to Kenya were not known to us. No information was shared with us before he traveled,” he stated.
He noted that Besigye often makes frequent trips to the country. Furthermore, he highlighted that senior officials from other nations typically announce their visits in advance, allowing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make the necessary arrangements to receive them appropriately.
“Besigye is a frequent visitor to our country. He comes to Kenya privately to engage in private business and engagements. There are protocols that relate to the travel of senior government and opposition leaders. Often they inform us of their presence in our country. They seek some facilitation at the airport, and on that basis, we are able to tend to them. For instance, give them security,” Sing'Oei asserted.
“With that being said, our ministry was in the dark in respect to Besigye’s visit. We did not know the hotel he was booked to. We did not know which apartment he stayed in. Therefore, we were not in a position to provide him with additional security,” he claimed.
Besigye was reportedly abducted on Saturday, November 16, with reports indicating that he was last seen in an apartment in Riverside, Nairobi. Besigye was in the country to attend the launch of Martha Karua’s book Against the Tide on Sunday, November 19.
News of Besigye’s abduction was brought to light by his wife, Winnie Byanyima. She took to social media on Wednesday morning to appeal to the Ugandan government to release her husband.
"I request the government of Uganda to release my husband, Kizza Besigye, from where he is being held immediately," Byanyima wrote.
A statement released by Martha Karua through the Pan African Leaders Solidarity Network shed light on the events that transpired in Besigye’s abduction. The statement revealed that Besigye checked into the Waridi Paradise Hotel on Saturday.
Later, he left with a taxi driver to attend a meeting at 108 Riverside Apartments on Sunday, upon which his taxi driver waited for him until 4am when he gave up having received no response to his several messages.
As the saga of Besigye’s abduction gathered steam, Besigye was arraigned before a Makindye Military Court in Uganda yesterday, alongside his close aide Haji Obed Kamulegeya. Besigye claimed he had not spoken to anyone since his arrest in Kenya, including his lawyers.
The opposition leader was remanded to prison till December 2, 2024, pending trial on security-related charges. Some of them are illegal possessions of firearms and ammunition. Prosecutors alleged that the offences occurred in different countries.
At the same time, PS Sing’Oei added that the government had launched investigations to determine the root cause of the Ugandan leader’s abduction. “When I spoke to my colleagues at interior, they informed me that they had launched investigations into the circumstances that surround this so-called abduction,” he affirmed.
Besigye’s alleged abduction has caused uproar in the country, with the government being accused of playing a significant role in enforced abductions in Kenya. This comes after four Turkish nationals were abducted in broad daylight and deported back to their home country in a move that was tied to an arms deal between Kenya and Turkey.
