Martha Karua opposes AG’s plea for more time in Besigye deportation case
By Zipporah Ngwatu, September 29, 2025A Nairobi High Court has declined to grant the Attorney General (AG), Dorcas Oduor, 21 days to file responses to the petition over the deportation of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi on Monday, September 29, 2025, declined the 21 days and instead granted the AG 14 days to file responses to the petition filed by Besigye and the second petitioner, Hajj Obeid Lutale.
State Counsel Marwa, representing the AG, informed the court that the matter involved multiple respondent offices and that efforts to coordinate a joint reply had been frustrated by unanswered letters.
He further urged the court to grant him 21 days to finalise the process.
“Your Lordship, I’m here to plead with the court to give me more time to be able to file my response to the petition. I would request the court to give me 21 days,” Counsel Marwa submitted to court.
However, the AG’s application was opposed by Senior Counsel Martha Karua, who is representing Kizza Besigye, stating that it had been long since they were instructed to file the responses.
“My Lord, they were served on July 28, 2025; today is September 29, 2025. For a whole two months they have not even entered an appearance. If they had entered an appearance and were asking for time, having written letters—I don’t know on what date—one would understand more,” Karua told the court.
Karua further told the court that if it must grant them the extra time they were requesting, then the court should also issue a warning to the State Law Office that they must follow the law and should not expect any favours from the court.
“If you are inclined, My Lord, to give them more time, I think it’s a proper case where the State Law Office must be cautioned; they should not expect special favours from the court. Why would they take two months to enter an appearance and even respond to the issues?” Senior Counsel Karua stated.
She stated that the case before the Milimani High Court had to move forward since it had a bearing on the case Besigye is facing in Uganda.
Karua added that the case also had a bearing on security when people from both countries visit across the border, thus explaining the urgency of the matter to be expedited.
According to court papers, Besigye and Hajj had visited Kenya through an invitation by Martha Karua to grace her book launch, and they arrived on November 16, 2024.
However, they were later unlawfully, forcefully, and violently abducted within Kenyan territory by security agencies from Uganda, and they were driven back to Uganda under the cover of darkness.
The petition also states that shortly before the abduction, about eight men in civilian clothes armed with submachine guns introduced themselves to Besigye and Hajj as Kenyan police and informed them that they were under arrest.
“The individuals who identified themselves as police had three vehicles. The petitioners were then bundled into one vehicle with four other persons, including the driver, while the others occupied the other vehicles. The three vehicles then escorted the petitioners’ car to a fuel station where their vehicle was refuelled, after which they drove straight to the Malaba border post,” part of the petition read.
The petition also states that upon arrival in Kampala, Uganda, the petitioners were detained incommunicado at Makindye Military Barracks.
They further argue that they were denied the rights of arrested persons, including access to lawyers, family, and medical assistance.
They also reveal that they were detained within military barracks, in a place not gazetted for civilians, and were denied access to family members.
Notably, the petition states that the two have since been produced before the Uganda General Court Martial sitting at Makindye, Uganda, and charged with offences in that country for alleged crimes committed inside Kenyan territory.
The two were charged with possession of firearms while in Kenya, contrary to Sections 1 and 2 of Uganda’s Firearms Act, Cap 320.
The Government of Uganda is on record stating that the arrest and extradition of the petitioners were conducted in concert with officials of the Government of Kenya.