The abduction in Nairobi and spiriting to Kampala of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye adds to a growing list of dissidents hounded in the country, raising fears that Kenya is no longer safe for foreign victims of political persecution.
Dr Besigye was scheduled to attend Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua’s book launch; Against The Tide, in Nairobi on Sunday, November 17, and had just arrived in the capital on Saturday, November 16 before he went missing.
The incident, part of a string of cases involving dissidents, has raised fears about the safety of those fleeing political persecution in their home countries, as well as foreign nationals and opposition figures visiting Kenya.
The safety of foreign nationals continues to be a concern, with the most scary involving the killing of a Pakistani Journalist Arshad Sharif occurring barely a month after President William Ruto took office in 2022.
The family of the slain Pakistani Journalist Sharif who was “mistakenly” shot dead by Kenyan police officers in October 2022, has been crying for justice in vain.
The late Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif. He was shot dead at a police roadblock on the Nairobi-Magadi road.
The High Court sitting in Kajiado in July awarded Sh10 million to the family with Justice Stella Mutuku saying that the use of lethal force against Sharif by shooting him in the head was unlawful and unconstitutional.
The murder occurred at the time when President Ruto promised to end extra-judicial killings, following the abduction and subsequent killing of his two Indian poll experts, Mohammed Zaid Sami and Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan, as well as their driver Nicodemus Mwania Mwangi, by suspected members of the disbanded elite Special Service Unit (SSU), in the run-up to the August 9, 2022 elections.
Dr Besigye’s banishment, however, comes hot on the heels of the recent forced repatriation of four Turkish nationals and other Ugandan politicians in July, which has raised concerns about Kenya’s harsh treatment of its guests.
Following the reported case of abduction of the four Turkish nationals; Alparslan Taşçı, Mustafa Genç, Huseyin Yesilsa and Öztürk Uzun, last month, and pressure from rights activists, the government moved with speed to confirm capturing them and deporting them to Turkey “on request of their government.”
“The four have been residing in Kenya as refugees. The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has received assurances from the Turkish authorities that the four will be treated with dignity in keeping with national and international law,” Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Dr Korir Sing'oei said then.
The PS would, however, not respond to further queries on the repatriated individuals citing “their privacy and confidentiality.”
Activists have faulted the government for ignoring the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits states from returning people to territories where they may face irreparable harm.
Executive Director of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre Suba Churchill argues that the current trend in the country on abduction, enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killing and deportations “is an extreme illustration of how low Kenya has sunk low.”
“…a country once celebrated as a safe sanctuary for other nationals in the region and beyond running away from political persecution now witnesses incidences where authorities seem to be more than willing to compromise the dignity, security and life of any person for expedient gains,” Mr Churchill told Nation.
The latest spate of kidnappings, Mr Churchill says, has added intensity to previous cases of unexplained kidnapping of foreign nationals and in some cases, their killing in circumstances that raised more questions than answers.
“The kidnapping of Samson Tellemichael, an Ethiopian businessman in Nairobi on November 19, 2021 from his Bentley car by a man dressed in Kenya Police Traffic uniform; the killing of a Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kajiado, Kenya on October 23, 2022, the kidnapping of Morris Mabior, a vocal critic of South Sudan's government by a group of men dressed in Kenya police uniform and claiming to be from the Nairobi Anti-Terror Police in April 2023, are some of the chilling additions to the 1999 kidnapping of Kurdish Workers' Party (PPK) leader, Abdullah Ocalan from Kenya to Turkiye.”
Kurdish nationalist leader Abdullah Ocalan.
In July, at least 36 opposition politicians from Uganda’s Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Party were arrested in Kisumu after deported to their country, attracting criticism from the county leadership.
Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o noted that according to Dr Besigye, the FDC politicians had just concluded a meeting at the Ukweli Pastoral Center on the outskirts of Kisumu City on July 23, 2024, when a group of armed people believed to be Ugandan and Kenyan Security personnel “broke into their rooms, assaulted, arrested and drove them back to Uganda in the middle of the night.”
Prof Nyong’o noted that he was informed that the politicians had been lawfully allowed to enter Kenya by immigration officials to attend the meeting.
“Although the County Government of Kisumu has no link with the politicians, we condemn in the strongest terms possible the human rights violations meted against them while within Kisumu County,” the governor said.
On Wednesday, Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karuawho is also the convener of Pan-African Opposition Leaders Solidarity Network, where Dr Besigye is a member, and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka joined the long list of government critics over its current “anti-human rights trends.”
Ms Karua hit out at both the Kenyan and Ugandan governments for collaborating in the abduction, saying they violated national, regional and international laws.
"This occurrence is deeply disturbing and of grave concern. We suspect that Dr Besigye may have been abducted after he was dropped at the Riverside apartments, most likely by Uganda authorities working in cahoots with and facilitation from Kenyan authorities," she said.
Mr Musyoka said that he was concerned that Dr Besigye had gone missing while on a visit to Nairobi.
“The increasing number of disappearances of both nationals and foreigners in our country is likewise cause for great alarm. These violations of fundamental freedoms must come to an end,” said the Wiper leader.
Last May, Rwandan human rights defender Yusuf Ahmed Gasana was also abducted from his home in Nairobi by unidentified persons.
Sources told Gasana’s family then that he was being held in a secret detention facility in Rwanda with several other people who were yet to be charged.
The family of a South Sudanese political and human rights activist Morris Mabior Awikjok had also reported his abduction in February 2023.
Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak.
Mr Awikjok had been seeking asylum in Kenya following a fallout with some government officials back in South Sudan and was picked by armed people believed to be police officers from his Kangundo Road house in Nairobi
His wife Angelina Aliet Marol said then that her husband was always vocal against the operations of the South Sudanese government.
“He always questioned the government and held it responsible for all the suffering in the country,” she said.
Nnamdi Kanu.
In 2021, Nnamdi Kanu, a separatist leader from Nigeria, was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and handed over to Nigerian intelligence services.
Prominent dissidents hounded in Kenya
1. Uganda opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye.
2. Four Turkish nationals:
- Alparslan Taşçı,
- Mustafa Genç,
- Huseyin Yesilsa
- Öztürk Uzun
3. 36 Uganda opposition Forum for Democratic Change politicians.
4. South Sudanese political and human rights activist Morris Mabior Awikjok.
5. Rwandan human rights activist Yusuf Ahmed Gasana.
6. Pakistani Journalist Arshad Sharif.
7. Indian poll experts:
- Mohammed Zaid Sami.
- Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan.
8.Nnamdi Kanu – IPOB leader.
