The Uganda National Police (UNP) has denied detaining Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who reportedly disappeared after joining opposition leader Bobi Wine’s campaign near Kampala.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, UNP Spokesperson ACP Rusoke Kituuma said the police had not received any official report about the activists’ whereabouts or status. “Regarding the Kenyan activists who allegedly came to Uganda and are reported to have disappeared, I am not briefed that they are in our custody. I have no information indicating that they are held by the police, nor do I have any information that they are facing any accusations,” he stated.
Kituuma further clarified that the police had not been informed whether the two Kenyans were registered as missing persons. “I do not know whether it has been formally reported that they are lost persons or missing persons; I do not have that information,” he added.
Njagi and Oyoo were last seen on Wednesday, October 1, at a petrol station in Kireka township, just outside Kampala. Witnesses say four armed individuals, including a woman, forced them into a grey van at gunpoint before speeding off. Their phones were immediately switched off, and neither has been heard from since.
A companion who was briefly detained and later released described the ordeal as terrifying, saying, “I don’t know where Bob is. I don’t know which police station he has been taken to. I honestly don’t know where he is. I’m just stranded here.”
The disappearance has sparked widespread outrage from human rights groups and political movements across East Africa. Kongamano La Mapinduzi (KLM) condemned the incident as “a blatant act of repression” and accused Ugandan authorities of silencing dissent. “Stop abducting Kenyans! Stop persecuting Africans who stand with progressive struggles like that of Bobi Wine and the people of Uganda,” KLM said in a statement.
Several organizations have urged the Kenyan government, the East African Community, and the African Union to intervene and ensure the activists’ safe return.
In a communiqué dated October 3, 2025, the Kenyan High Commission in Kampala confirmed it had received reports of the alleged abduction and had requested Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with local authorities to determine the activists’ fate. “Two Kenyan nationals, Mr. Bob Njagi and Mr. Nicholas Oyoo, were allegedly abducted by armed men around the Kireka area, Kampala, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, and their whereabouts remain unknown,” the statement read.
Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the matter is being handled diplomatically. “It is the duty of the Government of Kenya to protect its citizens in any part of the world,” he remarked, adding that Nairobi expects cooperation from Ugandan authorities in tracing the missing activists.
The incident comes as Uganda heads toward the 2026 elections, with tensions rising around opposition activities and international scrutiny intensifying over human rights practices.
