Uganda's military denies holding missing Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo

In their response to a habeas corpus case filed by two lawyers at the Uganda High Court, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) said they had carried out investigations and searched all relevant detention facilities and records but found no entry relating to the two missing activists.

A court ruling on the matter is expected to be delivered on Thursday. 

In their response following a habeas corpus case filed two weeks ago, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, named as one of the respondents in the matter, have denied being involved in the abduction of Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo.

Silas Kamanda, a colonel in the UPDF who serves as the director at Joint Staff Legal Services, told the court that Uganda’s military had carried out investigations and searched all relevant detention facilities, lock-up registers, and custody records, and found no entry relating to Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi.

He concluded by saying that the UPDF does not know their whereabouts. Two Ugandan lawyers had claimed that the two were being held at a military detention facility in Mbuya, Kampala.

The military denial comes two weeks after the Ugandan Police Force, in a press conference, refuted the abduction reports and said they were yet to get a formal report.

This raises questions about what Ugandan authorities are doing to ensure the two are found after they were abducted in broad daylight. Oyoo and Njagi had travelled to Uganda to support opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine.

For three weeks, their families and human rights organizations have been out in the streets demanding their release, with little help from Kenyan authorities, who had assured the families that the High Commissioner in Kampala was following up on the matter.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International, the Law Society of Kenya, and Vocal Africa launched a global petition urging Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to release the two.

Uganda’s High Court is expected to rule on the habeas corpus case on Thursday.