Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed the arrest of two Kenyan activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who had been missing for 38 days after traveling to Uganda in early October 2025. The two were reportedly abducted by armed men in Kira Municipality, Wakiso District, while supporting opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine.
Njagi and Oyoo were released on Saturday, November 8, and handed over to the Kenyan High Commission in Uganda. Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi confirmed their release, crediting it to “sustained diplomatic engagement between Kenya and Uganda.” He emphasized that both nations maintained open and constructive communication that led to the safe return of the detained activists.
Speaking on a local radio talk show, Museveni acknowledged that Ugandan security forces had been holding the two Kenyans. He accused them of collaborating with Bobi Wine’s group to instigate civil unrest.
“Here we have very good intelligence…we know them. We have got two Kenyans whom we arrested. They have been with us. They came, and they were working with Kyagulanyi’s group. They are experts in riots,” Museveni said.
Upon their return to Nairobi, the activists narrated harrowing details of their ordeal at the Kasenyi Military Barracks in Entebbe, where they claimed to have been tortured and starved.
“We were in military detention by the special forces. I didn’t eat for 14 days. We were tortured,” Njagi recounted at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) had previously denied holding the pair, with Col. Silas Kamanda stating in an affidavit on October 22 that investigations had shown the two were not in army custody. Their eventual release, however, has raised questions about Uganda’s human rights record and treatment of foreign nationals involved in political activism.
