Havi: Why we demand the release of Kenyan activists

Former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi at a Milimani court on May 16,2025. Former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi has called for the immediate release of two Kenyan activists who were allegedly abducted in Uganda while attending an event linked to opposition politician Bobi Wine's presidential campaign. Havi said that about a month ago, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo were mysteriously arrested, with credible reports indicating they are being held by Uganda's military intelligence at a non-gazetted facility known as Mboya in Kampala. Their disappearance has sparked diplomatic tension, public outrage, and mounting calls for accountability across East Africa. "That is the same place where Uganda's top military officials have bragged online about torturing detainees," said Havi. A Ugandan High Court had ordered authorities to produce the two activists "dead or alive." However, the government in Kampala later claimed it had checked all official detention facilities and found no record of them. Havi said the silence from both the Ugandan and Kenyan governments has only deepened suspicion. "The helplessness we now see from our government is the most disturbing part," he lamented. "These are Kenyan citizens, East African citizens, travelling within the region on legitimate passports. If they committed any crime, they should be brought before a court of law in Uganda. Their disappearance is unlawful." Eyewitnesses said Njagi and Oyoo were seized in broad daylight by armed men in uniform in Uganda's Kaliro District. "It was not clear which agency took them, whether police, army, or intelligence, but they were men in uniform," said a witness who managed to escape. The lawyer further accused the Kenyan government of neglecting its duty to protect its citizens abroad. "We must express our displeasure with the Kenyan government for failing to act under Article 104 of the East African Community Treaty, which guarantees the safety and free movement of citizens across member states," he said. He also warned of what he described as a "trinity of dictatorship" emerging among Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, accusing regional leaders of copying each other's authoritarian tendencies. "Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni is worse than Idi Amin," Havi said. "If our own government stays silent when its citizens disappear abroad, it means we are borrowing bad examples from our neighbors." The lawyer linked the current inaction to previous incidents involving the abduction or unlawful detention of Kenyan activists. "Bob Njagi was one of the 'Kitengela Three' abducted and held incommunicado last year," he said. "So this pattern of silence from Kenyan authorities is familiar. It is complicity." Havi also dismissed calls for restraint, including a statement by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, who had urged Kenyans not to interfere in the affairs of neighboring countries during election periods. "That mindset is wrong," Havi said. "Njagi and Oyoo are Kenyan and East African citizens. Their liberties must be defended." He has since called for protests outside the Ugandan Embassy in Nairobi and for increased public pressure on Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "If Kenya cannot guarantee the safety of its citizens, it has no business calling itself a government of the people."

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