Frontier Correspondent
Nairobi, Kenya.
Human rights activists on Thursday chained themselves to the gates of Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in Nairobi, demanding the release of two Kenyan nationals allegedly held incommunicado by Ugandan authorities.
The protest, which began around 10 a.m. along Harambee Avenue, briefly blocked access to the ministry before police intervened.
Led by Odhiambo Ojiro of Vocal Africa Organisation and rights advocate Julius Kamau, the group of about a dozen demonstrators locked chains around their waists and necks, chanting for diplomatic action.
Placards read “Free Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo Now” and “Museveni: Release Our Brothers.” Police used bolt cutters to free them after about two hours.
No arrests were reported, though the activists were briefly held for processing. The ministry did not immediately comment.
The protest centered on Bob Njagi, chair of the Free Kenya Movement, and Nicholas Oyoo, the group’s secretary general, who disappeared in Uganda on October 1. The two had traveled to support opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) ahead of Uganda’s 2026 elections and were last seen being bundled into unmarked vehicles in Kireka, near Kampala.
Kenya’s High Commission in Kampala lodged a protest note on October 3, demanding information on their whereabouts. Ugandan police deny involvement, but lawyers for the activists filed a habeas corpus case on October 6, alleging the men are being held at a military facility in Mbuya. A Ugandan court ordered authorities to produce them by October 21, a deadline that lapsed without compliance.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, has condemned the disappearances as part of a wider pattern of enforced detentions in the region.
Rights groups including Amnesty International and the Law Society of Kenya have launched petitions urging President Yoweri Museveni to release the pair.
Speaking during the protest, Ojiro said:
“These are our brothers abducted for standing with the oppressed. Kenya’s Foreign Ministry must escalate pressure and demand their return.”
With diplomatic notes unanswered and families still without contact three weeks later, activists warn Kenya’s silence could embolden further cross-border crackdowns on dissent.