Ugandan opposition politician kidnapped in Kenya, his wife says

A veteran Ugandan opposition politician was kidnapped during a book launch in Kenya at the weekend, transferred to Uganda and is being held at a military jail in the capital, his wife said on Wednesday.

Kizza Besigye has run against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in four elections and lost each time. He appeared in a Kampala military court on Wednesday and was charged with several offenses including unlawful possession of firearms and remanded to prison to Dec. 2, according to a Reuters witness in court. He denied all charges.

"I request the (government) of Uganda to release my husband Dr Kizza Besigye from where he is being held immediately," said Besigye's wife, Winnie Byanyima, who is the head of UNAIDS. She did not describe the alleged kidnapping and could not immediately be reached for further comment.

Chris Baryomunsi, Uganda's information minister, said Uganda did not carry out abductions and that any arrests abroad would be done in collaboration with a host country.

"So being arrested from Kenya should not be a problem. The assurance we give the country is that the (Ugandan) government does not arrest somebody and keeps him or her incommunicado for a long time," he told Uganda's public broadcaster.

However, Korir Sing'oei, Principal Secretary at Kenya's foreign ministry told the local Star newspaper there was no reason for Kenya to be party to Besigye's detention. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Standing in the dock in Makindye military barracks in Kampala, with an unidentified co-accused, Besigye wore a suit jacket and looked visibly haggard. He was also accused of holding meetings in Kenya, Switzerland and Greece aimed at soliciting logistical support and identifying military targets in Uganda "with intent to prejudice the security of the defense forces."

His lawyer Erias Lukwago said the charge sheet was "incurably defective."

"These proceedings are a nullity," he told Reuters.

Detentions in Kenya

In July, Kenyan authorities detained 36 members of Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change party, one of Uganda's main opposition groups, and deported them to Uganda where they were charged with terrorism-related offenses.

"It is very, very shocking that Kenya, which used to be a safe haven for dissidents, is now increasingly becoming an operational zone for the dictatorship," Bobi Wine, another prominent Ugandan opposition figure, told local broadcaster NTV.

Besigye was Museveni's physician during the guerrilla war of the 1980s that brought the Ugandan president to power but later became an outspoken critic and has rejected election results, alleging fraud and voter intimidation. He has been arrested multiple times before.

He was abducted on Saturday during the launch of a book by veteran Kenyan opposition politician Martha Karua, Byanyima wrote on the social media platform X.

She did not give a description of the people who allegedly detained her husband.

"We his family and his lawyers demand to see him. He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?" said Byanyima, the executive director of the United Nations agency for HIV/AIDS.

Museveni's government has been accused of repeated human rights abuses against opposition activists, including illegal detentions, torture and extra-judicial killings.

Officials say those arrested are detained legally and processed appropriately by the court system.