What we know about the detention of Uganda’s opposition leader

The mysterious arrest of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye while visiting Kenya nearly two weeks ago sparked widespread condemnation and fears of a secret intelligence exchange between the two neighbors. .

Besigye’s allies and wife have revealed harrowing details of how the opposition leader was apparently lured to meet his kidnappers, allegedly disguised as Kenyan security officers.

Reports say he was followed since he boarded the plane at Entebbe airport in Uganda to the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where he was arrested, before somehow being transferred to a military tribunal in his home country without any extradition proceedings.

While Kenya affirmed that it played no role and was investigating the incident, Uganda affirmed that Kenya was fully aware of the plan, citing intelligence correspondence aimed at tracking down Besigye.

As he prepares to return to the military tribunal in Kampala, we round up what we know so far.

Besigye has contested and lost four presidential elections to President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.

He has been less politically active recently and did not participate in the 2021 election.

But earlier this year, he founded a new party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) after splitting from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), which he founded two decades ago.

The opposition politician has for years traveled to Kenya and moved freely, sometimes to attend high-profile events – even as he remained Museveni’s main rival and biggest critic.

This time, Besigye went to Nairobi to attend the book launch of Kenyan opposition politician Martha Karua.

The 68-year-old arrived in the city on the morning of November 16 and took a taxi to his hotel in the affluent suburb of Hurlingham. He was accompanied by long-time ally Hajj Obeid Lutale.

Hours later, he left the hotel, got into a taxi and went to Riverside Drive, about 5 kilometers (three miles) from the hotel, for a private meeting, according to his political allies.

This was the last time he was seen until he reappeared in Uganda four days later.

His taxi driver said he waited for the veteran politician for more than 12 hours before deciding to leave because he could not call him.

Besigye’s team in Uganda began relaying emergency calls after their leader’s cell phone went unanswered.

His disappearance made headlines and put the entire area on notice. His wife Winnie Byanyima, who heads the United Nations organization aimed at tackling HIV and AIDS, took to social media to report that her husband had been “kidnapped” in Nairobi.

The next day, his reserved seat at the book launch, where he was supposed to be a guest speaker, remained empty when organizers issued a warning about his absence.

According to Ms. Byanyima, Besigye and his friend Lutale went to the apartment along Riverside Drive, where he expected to meet an unidentified Ugandan national and another unidentified British national .

The British citizen reportedly wanted to introduce Besigye to a group of colleagues and businessmen who had expressed interest in financially supporting PFF, she said.

In the room there is a money box. One of the homeowners had two guns.

Ms. Byanyima told Kenya’s Citizen TV that shortly after the brief introduction, eight plainclothes men claiming to be Kenyan police knocked on the door and told Besigye and his associates that they had been arrested.

The opposition leader tried to explain that he had nothing to do with the objects in the room, but the security guards did not listen.

Four men put Besigye and Lutale into a car with Kenyan license plates and drove them in the dark toward the border with Uganda.

Ms Byanyima added: “It was clear that this was a well-planned operation.”

Before arriving in Uganda, the four men had switched from speaking Swahili to speaking the Ugandan, Luganda and Runyankole languages.

The two detainees were taken to Uganda without their belongings, including their passports, which were then picked up by Besigye’s party officials from the Nairobi hotel.

PFF spokesman Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda told Uganda’s Monitor newspaper that Besigye and his friends passed through the Malaba border post without stopping for routine security checks.

“They just changed vehicles. The four-wheel drive vehicle with Kenyan license plates was left at Malaba border station and transferred to another vehicle with Kenyan license plates. [a] Ugandan number plates,” he said.

Ugandan Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi said detectives had gathered enough intelligence to arrest Besigye while in Nairobi.

He said Kenyan authorities had authorized this cross-border operation, although officials in Nairobi insisted they knew nothing about it.

Besigye is currently on trial in Kampala rather than Nairobi because the crime was planned “against Uganda and not Kenya”, said Ugandan army spokesman Brigadier General Felix Kulayigye told the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast.

“We have a legal framework with our partners in Kenya to address issues that threaten regional security,” he added.

However, he did not explain why there was no extradition process.

Reports indicate that Besigye’s arrest was planned for months and carried out with the help of several people close to him.

The organizers of the meeting are believed to be a British citizen and a senior Ugandan military official, both of whom are well known to Besigye, Ugandan media reported.

His wife accused the British national present at the meeting of being a “paid agent who tried to plant a gun” in Besigye.

For decades, hundreds of civilians have been tried in Uganda’s military courts, even though the Constitutional Court has ruled against the practice.

Brig Kulayigye told the BBC that Besigye, who was no stranger to appearing at military tribunals, returned there because he was subject to military law.

Last week, he and his accomplices were charged at Makindye military court after being held incommunicado for four days.

They are facing four charges, including being found carrying two pistols and ammunition, and trying to buy weapons from foreigners in the Swiss city of Geneva and the Greek capital Athens. and Nairobi.

The two denied all accusations.

Besigye objected to being tried by a court, saying that if there were any charges against him, he should be tried in a civil court.

His lawyers also argued that the alleged offenses were committed outside Uganda and that they were therefore illegally charged in a military court.

But the court overruled the lawyers and allowed the trial to continue.

The defendant was remanded in detention at Luzira maximum prison until December 2.

Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan lawyer and human rights activist, told the BBC that Kenya should have arrested Besigye and extradited him to Uganda under the law that governs the process.

Mrs. Byanyima said she did not expect her husband to get justice.

But Brig Kulayigye said the military court was “not a kangaroo court”.

“Justice will be served.”

Kenyan authorities have chosen between denying any knowledge of the operation and remaining silent, while Ugandan officials say a wealth of intelligence has been shared between the two countries.

“The Ugandan government has been in touch with the Kenyan government. Otherwise, how can you arrest someone in the middle of Nairobi and then bring him back to Uganda, whether through the airport or by land, without understanding full knowledge and support from the state.” in Kenya?” Information Minister Baryomunsi told Uganda’s NBS television station.

Many Kenyans are asking about the nature of the security relationship between the two countries and whether it will be fully disclosed that Besigye will be charged in a military court.

Last Tuesday, Kenya’s acting Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi refrained from giving a clear answer to journalists, pleading that his country should not be judged “too harshly”.

Mudavadi, who is also acting Home Affairs Minister, said Kenya is an open country, allowing “a lot of latitude”. However, he warned foreigners against causing a rift between Kenya and their homeland.

He said the Besigye issue would be resolved diplomatically, describing Uganda as a “strong partner” of Kenya.

Uganda’s admission that Kenya was involved in the kidnapping has caused the Kenyan government to face a backlash both in Uganda and at home.

Some Ugandans staged protests outside the Kenyan embassy in Kampala while others threatened to boycott Kenyan brands.

Besigye’s detention follows a series of high-profile kidnappings and disappearances in Kenya, including Forced deportation of four Turkish refugees to Ankarawhere they face charges of plotting against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Additional reporting by Alan Kasujja