Uganda Pressed to Explain Disappearance of Two Kenyan Activists

Ugandan authorities are facing mounting diplomatic and public pressure to explain the disappearance of two Kenyan activists, Bob Njangi and Nicholas Oyoo, who were allegedly abducted by armed men in Kampala on October 1.

The Kenyan government has lodged two formal protest notes and held a high-level meeting with Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, but the activists’ whereabouts remain unknown. Civil society groups in both countries — including Amnesty International Kenya, Vocal Africa, and the Law Society of Kenya — have condemned the abduction, describing it as a “blatant violation of human rights and international law.”

Eyewitnesses reported that the pair were taken by masked men believed to be linked to Ugandan security agencies, with activists suspecting they may be held in military detention facilities. Uganda’s police, however, deny any knowledge of their detention.

Protests have erupted outside the Ugandan High Commission in Nairobi, while two Ugandan lawyers have filed a habeas corpus petition demanding their release. The case is scheduled for hearing on October 14.

Rights groups say the case highlights a growing pattern of cross-border abductions and intimidation targeting human rights defenders in East Africa, citing previous incidents involving activists from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.