Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was reportedly abducted in Nairobi on Saturday, November 16.
According to his wife, Winnie Byanyima, Besigye went missing while in the Kenyan capital to attend the launch of Martha Karua’s memoir, Against the Tide.
Byanyima took to social media on Wednesday morning to urgently appeal to the Ugandan government for her husband’s release.
She stated that Besigye, a long-time critic of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, had been taken by force while attending the event in Nairobi and is now believed to be held in a military prison in Kampala, Uganda.
“I request the government of Uganda to release my husband, Kizza Besigye, from wherever he is being held immediately,” Byanyima wrote.
She also confirmed receiving reliable reports about his current detention and expressed concern over the nature of his imprisonment: “He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?”
Martha Karua, the Kenyan politician whose book launch Besigye attended, also called for transparency regarding his whereabouts and well-being, urging both Ugandan President Museveni and Kenyan President William Ruto to provide answers on his safety.
Besigye, who once served as President Museveni’s personal physician, has been a prominent human rights activist and leader of the opposition in Uganda. His consistent criticism of the government has led to multiple arrests and instances of violence against him over the years.
Under his leadership, other key figures in Uganda’s opposition, including Bobi Wine, have risen to prominence.
According to the Daily Monitor, Besigye was last seen at an apartment in Nairobi’s Westlands area, where he had attended a meeting with unidentified individuals.
Since his disappearance, his party, the Forum for Democratic Change, has been unable to contact him.
Besigye’s abduction comes at a particularly sensitive time in Kenya, where there have been widespread reports of abductions allegedly carried out by law enforcement, adding to the growing concerns surrounding the safety of political figures in the region.
