The High Court in Kampala has issued a firm directive to Ugandan authorities, demanding that they produce two missing Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo dead or alive within seven days.
The order, delivered by Justice Peter Kinobe, follows growing concern over the activists’ disappearance two weeks ago, amid reports that they are being unlawfully detained at a military facility in Mbuya, Kampala.
In a statement confirming the ruling, Freedom Hive Uganda, a human rights organisation advocating for their release, said the judge underscored his commitment to protecting the activists’ constitutional rights.
“Justice Peter Kinobe ordered the government to produce Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, dead or alive, within seven days,” the group said in part. “The Honourable Judge reaffirmed that the Constitution guarantees every person protection from illegal detention, and that the court would not tolerate violations of this right.”
The decision comes after two Ugandan lawyers filed a habeas corpus application on October 6, seeking the court’s intervention following the activists’ alleged arrest on October 1 in Kaliro District, eastern Uganda. The petitioners claimed Njagi and Oyoo were picked up by security personnel and secretly held in a military detention camp.
According to Ugandan law, anyone arrested must be presented before a court within 48 hours a provision that has reportedly been ignored in this case, with the activists now missing for 14 days.
Meanwhile, the Ugandan National Police (UNP) has distanced itself from the alleged abductions. Speaking during a State of Security briefing, UNP spokesperson ACP Kituuma Rusoke stated that police had no record of detaining the two men.
“On the matter of the two Kenyan activists who disappeared in Uganda, I am not briefed by the police that we have them in our custody,” Rusoke said. “At the moment, I do not have any information indicating that they are in police custody.”
The court’s order now places pressure on Ugandan authorities to account for the activists’ whereabouts a case that has drawn attention from both regional human rights organisations and Kenyan officials, who have demanded transparency and adherence to due process.
