How Kizza Besigye Vanished in Kenya and Ended Up in Military Court
The recent detention of Kizza Besigye during his visit to Kenya nearly two weeks ago has sparked widespread criticism and concerns about a potential covert intelligence exchange between Uganda and Kenya.
Besigye’s supporters and wife have shared disturbing details, claiming the opposition leader was tricked into meeting his abductors, who reportedly posed as Kenyan security officers.
Reports indicate that Besigye was under surveillance from the moment he boarded his flight from Entebbe, Uganda, to Nairobi, Kenya, where he was taken into custody and later transferred to a military court in Uganda, bypassing extradition procedures.
While Kenyan authorities claim they were unaware of the incident and are investigating, Uganda asserts that Kenya was fully informed, citing intelligence communications aimed at tracking down Besigye.
As Besigye’s detention is extended until next week by a military court in Kampala, we have compiled the available details.
Who Is Kizza Besigye?
Kizza Besigye has contested and lost four presidential elections to President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled since 1986.
Though less active in politics recently, Besigye did not run in the 2021 election. However, earlier this year, he founded a new political party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), after splitting from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), a party he established two decades ago.
Besigye has regularly traveled to Kenya and freely participated in high-profile events, even while being Museveni’s primary challenger and vocal critic.
What Led to Besigye’s Disappearance?
Besigye had traveled to Nairobi to attend the launch of a book by Kenyan opposition figure Martha Karua.
Arriving in Nairobi on the morning of November 16, the 68-year-old headed to his hotel in the upscale Hurlingham district, accompanied by his long-time ally, Hajj Obeid Lutale. A few hours later, Besigye left the hotel and took a taxi to Riverside Drive for a private meeting, according to his political allies.
That was the last time he was seen until he reappeared in Uganda four days later.
The taxi driver reported waiting for Besigye for over 12 hours before leaving when he could not reach him by phone.
Besigye’s team in Uganda began sounding alarms when they could not contact him. His disappearance made headlines, and his wife, Winnie Byanyima, the head of UNAIDS, used social media to report that her husband had been “kidnapped” in Nairobi.
The following day, Besigye’s seat at the book launch remained empty, prompting the organizers to raise concerns about his absence.
How Was Besigye Abducted?
Besigye and Lutale arrived at an apartment on Riverside Drive, where they were supposed to meet an unidentified Ugandan and a British national, according to Byanyima.
The British individual allegedly wanted to introduce Besigye to potential financial backers for the PFF, and there was a box containing what appeared to be money in the room. One of the hosts was armed with two guns. Shortly after a brief introduction, eight men in plain clothes, claiming to be Kenyan police officers, arrived, telling Besigye and Lutale they were under arrest, as reported by Byanyima on Kenya’s Citizen TV.
Besigye attempted to clarify his innocence, but the officers ignored him.
Four of the men forced Besigye and Lutale into a car with Kenyan plates and drove them toward the Ugandan border under cover of darkness.
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“It was clearly an operation well planned,” Byanyima remarked.
Before crossing into Uganda, the four men switched from Swahili to Luganda and Runyankole. The two men were taken to Uganda without their belongings, including their passports, which were later retrieved by Besigye’s party from the Nairobi hotel.
PFF spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda told Uganda’s Monitor that Besigye and Lutale crossed the Malaba border post without undergoing standard security checks.
“They only changed vehicles. The four-wheel-drive with the Kenyan plates was left at Malaba and replaced by a Ugandan vehicle,” he said.
Why was Besigye taken in Nairobi, and was it a setup? Uganda’s Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi stated that authorities had gathered sufficient intelligence to arrest Besigye in Nairobi.
He claimed Kenyan officials had facilitated the operation, although Kenyan authorities insist they were unaware of the plan.
How Kizza Besigye Vanished in Kenya and Ended Up in Military Court
