Narc Kenya Party leader Martha Karua has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye.
Besigye went missing on Saturday, November 16, 2024, while in Nairobi.
According to Karua, Besigye, who had checked into the Waridi Paradise Hotel and Suites in Nairobi, left the hotel in a taxi for a meeting at 108 Riverside Apartments. The taxi driver reportedly waited for him in the basement parking area from 4:30 pm until around 4:00 am Sunday morning, receiving no response to his calls or messages. Besigye was scheduled to attend and speak at Karua’s book launch on Sunday, November 17, 2024, but failed to show up.
“We suspect that Dr Besigye may have been abducted after he was dropped at the Riverside Apartments, most likely by Ugandan authorities working in cahoots with and facilitated by Kenyan authorities,” Karua declared.
The Narc Kenya leader highlighted a similar incident in July 2024 when 36 Ugandan citizens affiliated with the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) were abducted by Ugandan security agents in collaboration with Kenyan authorities. She said these individuals were detained and tortured after being forcibly taken to Uganda, despite being cleared by immigration in both countries to attend a leadership workshop in Kisumu, Kenya.
Karua described this emerging pattern of cross-border abductions as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability. She criticized the Kenyan and Ugandan governments for enabling such illegal practices.
“This trend of blatant violation of national, regional, and international law with impunity, by authorities in Kenya regarding both Kenyan and non-Kenyan citizens, and now a prominent East African opposition figure, is sinister and does not augur well for our safety as East Africans when we visit Jumuiya countries,” Karua warned.
She also called for accountability from Kenya’s security agencies, particularly the National Police Service, and urged both governments to adhere to the principles of the rule of law.
Citing past incidents, including the controversial deportation of Turkish refugees from Kenya earlier this year, Karua emphasized that these actions undermine legal and humanitarian obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement, which protects individuals from being returned to countries where they face threats to their safety.
“This matter is exacerbated by the recent and violent abduction of refugees of Turkish origin and their forced return to Turkey against common sense and international law and violates the principle of non-refoulement. Both the Constitutions of Kenya and Uganda and indeed the East African Community Treaty obligate adherence to the rule of law which the abduction/ kidnapping of Dr Bessigye and all such similar acts violate,” she added.
Karua demanded an end to cross-border abductions and urged the release of Besigye.
“Why would governments connive to abduct their citizens across borders when they have the opportunity to make a formal arrest at home, unless, as we suspect, they have no justifiable reasons for doing so?”
