The Ugandan National Police has denied reports linking them to the alleged abduction of two Kenyan activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, in Kampala last week.
Speaking on Monday, October 6, during a State of Security press briefing, UNP Spokesperson ACP Kituuma Rusoke said he has no reports that the two were in police custody.
The two have not been heard from since they were reportedly forced into a van at gunpoint while seeking services at a petrol station in Kireka township, just outside Kampala, on Wednesday, October 1.
“On the matter of the two Kenyan activists who disappeared in Uganda, I am not briefed by the police that we have them in our custody. So at the moment, I do not have any information to the effect that they are in police custody,” he said.
“If I had any information on their whereabouts of the two activists, I would present it here without any reservation,” the spokesperson noted.
Rusoke added that there was no information on the status of the two activists, as no formal reports had been filed with the police to report whether they were missing persons or not.
“I also do not know whether it has been reported formally whether they are lost persons. I do not have that information,” he revealed.
The two activists were allegedly abducted while attending a political campaign on Wednesday afternoon at a petrol station.
The two were in Uganda for a meeting with the National Unity Platform Presidential candidate Bobi Wine, the main opponent to the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni for the upcoming general elections.
According to one of the activists who travelled with Oyoo and Njagi, following the abduction, their phones were switched off and their whereabouts remain unknown.
The activist, who was also abducted and later released, recounted that they were immediately bundled into a waiting car before the masterminds sped off with them.
After their abduction, the Kenyan government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, released a statement where they disclosed they had sought details on the whereabouts of Njagi and Oyoo. Principal Secretary Korir Sin'goei confirmed that Kenya's Mission in Uganda had taken up the matter with local authorities.
In a formal communication, the High Commission of the Republic of Kenya in Kampala expressed concern over the incident and sought urgent clarification from Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Kenya further requested Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to liaise with relevant security agencies in Kampala to establish the activists’ whereabouts and provide an update on their safety.
"In light of the foregoing, and to address the concerns raised by the families of the two Kenyan nationals, the Mission requests the Ministry's assistance in liaising with the relevant authorities in Kampala to obtain information regarding the current situation of the missing Kenyans for the Mission to take appropriate action in securing their release and safe return to Kenya," the Mission noted.
