Amnesty International Kenya has intensified calls for the release of two missing Kenyan activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, from Uganda, who went missing in Uganda on October 1.
In a statement dated October 27, the human rights organisation likened the current status of the Ugandan administration to that of the former rule of dictator Idi Amin Dada, mainly due to the response, or rather lack thereof, from the government since the two disappeared 25 days ago.
"Kenyan citizens Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi were abducted in broad daylight by uniformed officers in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. Since then, they have simply vanished. Uganda’s police and military deny involvement, and the Kenyan government has gone silent," the statement read in part.
"Are we witnessing a return to Idi Amin’s terror, or does the 1986 National Resistance Movement (NRM) promise of justice and human rights still have legs three months before the January 2026 general elections?"
It highlighted how the 1971-1979 Idi Amin administration was riddled with some of the worst human rights abuses, as documented by the organisation and several other human rights groups, leading to the slaying of over 100,000 Ugandans.
Although Museveni's win came on the back of a promise for a more just nation, Amnesty highlighted that the continued use of state violence and enforced disappearances to silence unarmed critics was a betrayal of the covenant to break with past tyrannies.
Both the Ugandan police and the Ugandan military have denied being involved in the enforced disappearance despite witness statements that the two were picked up by armed security personnel in Uganda.
In statements and court affidavits, Ugandan security forces have denied responsibility, despite reports that the two activists, who are aligned with the Ugandan opposition's Bobi Wine, are being held at a military detention camp.
The Kenyan government has also been accused of dragging its feet to bring the two back home, despite several calls by different human rights groups.
So far, the government has failed to make any official calls or diplomatic engagements to bring Oyoo and Njagi back home.
As such, Amnesty has embarked on several initiatives that aim to put pressure on the Ugandan government to ensure that the two are brought back home.
One such initiative involves encouraging people across the world to email President Yoweri Museveni using the Amnesty Kenya website. The other one involves reminding the Kenyan government of its constitutional obligation to use any means necessary to have the two released.
For the first one, the organisation, alongside the Law Society of Kenya and Vocal Africa, is calling on all concerned people across the world to sign on to a virtual letter to President Museveni, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the two.
