Ugandan Opposition leader Kizza Besigye stands in a steel dock at the Uganda Military General Court Martial in Makindye, a suburb of Kampala on December 2, 2024. Inset: Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi (left) and Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya.
Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye wants Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya and other senior government officials declared unfit to hold public office over his abduction and extradition from Kenya to Uganda in November last year.
The 68-year-old and his political aide Obeid Lutale says in a petition to the High Court that the senior government officials are jointly and severally liable for violating the constitution, over his abduction and extradition on November 16, 2024.
They said the abduction and their removal from Kenya was conducted by police officers from Uganda in concert with Kenyan security forces, without following any legal or due process.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
The petition stated that the government of Uganda is on record, stating that the arrest and their extradition were conducted in concert with officials of the Kenya government.
“An order that the Respondents violated the Constitution and are thus unfit to remain in office under this Constitution,” the petition stated.
Other officials named in the petition are Cabinet Secretary Interior Kipchumba Murkomen, Inspector General of police Douglas Kanja, director general of Immigration services Evelyn Cheluget, and senior immigration officer in charge of Malaba border post.
When the parties appeared before Justice Lawrence Mugambi on Monday, Attorney General Dorcas Oduor pleaded for more time to file her response in the matter.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
But senior counsel Martha Karua and James wa Njeri pointed out that the court documents were served on the Attorney General on July 28.
Justice Mugambi gave the Attorney General 14 days to file the replies. The hearing of the case is scheduled for February 25.
Other than declaring the officials unfit to hold public office, Dr Besigye wants to be paid damages for the abduction and illegal extradition.
“A declaration that the extradition and or repatriation of the Petitioners from Kenya to Uganda was illegal, unconstitutional and did not meet the strict requirements of the Extradition (Commonwealth Countries) Act Cap 77,” the petition stated.
Charged before a court martial sitting
The two were arrested on November 16, 2024 in Nairobi after being invited for a boo launch by Ms Karua.
They said the action of allowing security agents of a foreign state to have free rein within the Kenyan borders amounts to an abdication of responsibility and a betrayal of the constitution.
The petition added that the fact that the move was done in concert with Uganda is a clear indication that the government officials violated Kenya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, causing a serious breach of national security by allowing foreign security agents to conduct an operation within Kenya’s borders.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya.
“This action alone shows that the Respondents are unfit to hold office and exercise public authority for violating Article 1 of the Constitution, which provides that [All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya and shall be exercised only in accordance with this Constitution],” said the petition.
Narrating their ordeal, the two leaders said shortly before the abduction, about eight men in civilian clothes armed with sub-machine guns introduced themselves as Kenyan Police and informed them that they were under arrest.
They were taken to the basement of the apartment complex they were in.
The duo were then bundled in one vehicle with four other persons, including the driver and the other persons occupied three other vehicles.
The other three vehicles escorted the car to the fuel station where their vehicle was fueled and drove straight to Malaba border post.
“…and it is from there that they got to know that the four (4) persons in the vehicle with them were Ugandans after they heard them speak in the local dialect “Runyankore”,” Dr Besigye said.
Upon arrival in Kampala, the duo were detained incommunicado at Makindye Military Barracks.
Dr Besigye and his aide have since been charged before a court martial sitting at Makindye, Uganda and charged with possession of firearms while in Kenya, contrary to Section 1 and 2 of Uganda’s Firearms Act.
“The unlawful repatriation of the Petitioners in the pretext of an extradition was conducted despite the fact that the charges of possession of firearms is not among the list under Schedule 1 of the Act listing the description of Extradition Offences,” the petition stated.
They fault the senior government officials for facilitating their abduction and illegal extradition, which led to their being subjected to political persecution, prosecution, indignity, torture and faced threats to their lives.
They said that despite being arrested within Kenyan territory, they were not brought before a court “as soon as reasonably possible” as guaranteed by Article 49(1)(f) of the constitution.
“Instead, they were handed over to officers from the Republic of Uganda, an act not anticipated or sanctioned by the Constitution or any Kenyan law,” the petition said.
