The Ugandan High Court has dismissed a petition seeking to compel the Ugandan government to produce Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo.
In a ruling, the court dismissed a habeas corpus application seeking to compel the police to produce the two activists, adding that there was no evidence that the state had them in custody.
The court went on to classify Njagi and Oyoo as missing persons, urging the petitioners to file a missing persons report with the Ugandan Police Force.
“It is therefore my finding that the respondents have complied fully with the directives of courts as relates to this application and the orders issued pursuant to this application. In the circumstances, I find it unnecessary to issue any additional orders as prayed for by the applicant. In the circumstances, I dismiss this application with no mention as to costs,” read part of the ruling.
“I would therefore categorise the applicants as missing persons. I would advise counsel for the applicants to commence these investigations by filing a missing person's report with the Uganda Police Force,” it further read.
The latest comes after the Ugandan High Court ordered Ugandan police to produce two Kenyan activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, dead or alive, in the next seven days.
They have been missing since they were abducted in Kampala two weeks ago, and it is suspected that they are being held at a military detention camp.
Confirming the news, Freedon Hive Uganda, a human rights activist group, revealed that the orders had been issued by Justice Peter Kinobe.
In the habeas corpus application, the petitioners had contended that Njagi and Oyoo had allegedly been arrested on October 1 in Kaliro District, Eastern Uganda, and were being held at a military detention facility in Mbuya, Kampala.
They also highlighted the Ugandan law, which provides that a person ought to be presented before a court of law within 48 hours of arrest, and yet the activists had not seen the inside of a courtroom since their detention.
The petition came despite the Ugandan National Police (UNP) denying reports linking them to the alleged abduction following five days of speculation.
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.
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 Sing'oei confirmed that Kenya's Mission in Uganda had taken up the matter with local authorities.
