The Ugandan government announced on Wednesday that it was investigating the situation of historic opponent Kizza Besigye, after his wife claimed that he had been “kidnapped” in Kenya and transferred to a military prison in Uganda.
Winnie Byanyima, director of UNAIDS, asked the government about “to release immediately” her husband, a former close friend who became an opponent of President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1986.
Kizza Besigye, aged 68, notably ran against him in the presidential elections of 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016.
Questioned by AFP, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Chris Baryomunsi, indicated that the government “verifies the information on the alleged disappearance of Besigye”.
“At the moment we cannot confirm his whereabouts”he declared.
Winnie Byanyima said Tuesday evening on X that her husband was “kidnapped last Saturday while in Nairobi”on the occasion of the release of a book by Kenyan opposition figure Martha Karua.
“I now have reliable information that he is in a military prison in Kampala”wrote the one who has led the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), based in Switzerland, since 2019.
Uganda is regularly singled out by NGOs and Western governments for its violations of human rights and freedom of expression and its repression of the opposition.
At the end of July, 36 members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), a party created by Mr. Besigye, were arrested in western Kenya and deported to Uganda, where they were charged with “terrorism”. They were released on bail at the end of October.
“Once a safe haven”
Ugandan opponent Kizza Besigye during a press conference on December 22, 2017 in Kampala / ISAAC KASAMANI / AFP
Close to Yoweri Museveni, whose personal doctor he was during their armed struggle against former Ugandan leader Milton Obote, Kizza Besigye left the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) in 2001.
Leader of the opposition, he ran for president in 2001 (28% of the vote), 2006 (37.3%), 2011 (26.01%) and 2016 (35.61%).
With others disappointed with the president, he founded the FDC in 2004, which he left a few months ago to create a formation which has not yet been approved, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF).
“We tried to contact him but his phone has been unreachable since Saturday”Phillip Wafula Oguttu, former leader of the opposition in the Ugandan parliament and member of the PFF, told AFP.
“We contacted his hotel in Nairobi where he had booked a room, they told us he had not been there since his arrival. “Our conclusion is that this is a confirmed case of kidnapping”he added.
Current face of the opposition, Bobi Wine called for his “immediate release”in a message on X.
“It is very shocking that Kenya, which was once a safe haven for (Ugandan) dissidents, is increasingly becoming an operational zone for the dictatorship in Uganda”he added.
A country bordering Uganda, Kenya has been criticized recently after kidnappings of foreign nationals on the ground.
In October, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in particular “deeply concerned” by the case of four Turkish refugees who, according to human rights groups, had been kidnapped in the Kenyan capital and deported in violation of international law.
