Kenya admits role in kidnapping of Uganda opposition leader

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi before the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations Committee at Parliament on April 29, 2025. [Boniface Okendo, Standard] Kenya has admitted it assisted in the kidnapping of a Ugandan opposition leader on its soil last year as he appeared in court for the latest hearing of his treason trial on Wednesday. Kizza Besigye, 68, was abducted by armed men in the heart of the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November and re-emerged a few days later at a military court in Uganda. Besigye is a former doctor to President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for nearly 40 years, but turned against him and ran for the presidency on multiple occasions. Kenya's government had previously denied any involvement in his abduction. But in a TV interview late Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Musalia Mudavadi admitted: "Kenya cooperated with the Ugandan authorities." "(Uganda) is a friendly nation. He (Kizza Besigye) was not seeking asylum. He had not come to say that he was seeking asylum. Had he said that, maybe the treatment would have been different," Mudavadi told Citizen TV. "We have to partner with our East African states and sometimes we have to manage those relations very carefully for the broader national interest," he added. Rights groups say Besigye's abduction and trial for treason, which carries a potential death penalty, are linked to the upcoming election in January, when Museveni, 80, will once again seek re-election. Besigye's case was moved to a civilian court after he went on hunger strike earlier this year. After a brief hearing on Wednesday, his case was adjourned to May 29. One of his lawyers, Erias Lukwago, called it "very disappointing". "There is a tendency by court to keep adjourning this case and denying them opportunity to get bail," he told AFP. Activists say the kidnapping and trial are part of a wider erosion of democracy across east Africa. Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu is also on trial for treason in his country ahead of elections in October. Several foreign activists who attempted to attend his trial this week were detained and deported. A Kenyan activist and Ugandan journalist are still missing after being arrested by Tanzanian police.

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Kenya admits role in kidnapping of Uganda opposition leader

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