Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was Saturday, November 16 kidnapped in Nairobi, Kenya and is being held in a military jail in Kampala.

This is according to his wife Winnie Byanyima who said Besigye was abducted while in Nairobi for NARC party leader Martha Karua's book launch.

Byanyima has now made a passionate appeal to authorities to have the husband released.

"I request the government of Uganda to release my husband Dr Kizza Besigye from where he is being held immediately. He was kidnapped last Saturday while he was in Nairobi for Hon Martha Karua’s book launch," she said in an update on X on Wednesday, November 20, 

"Byanyima noted that following the kidnapping, Besigye was taken to a military jail in Uganda where he is being currently held.

She further said:

"I am now reliably informed that he is in a military jail in Kampala. We his family and his lawyers demand to see him. He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?" 

Karua also demanded President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni to come clean on Besigye's whereabouts.

"Let Yoweri Museveni and William Ruto come clean on the safety and whereabouts of Besigye," she wrote on X.

This incident follows another in July 2024 where thirty-six members of Uganda's opposition party, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), were arrested in Kisumu and deported back to Uganda. 

The FDC members were arrested following a joint operation between police officers from Kenya and Uganda who broke into their hotel rooms and placed them under custody.

Following their arrival in Uganda, they were charged with terrorism and engaging in covert activities while allegedly attending a training seminar in Kisumu. 

The arrests drew criticism from Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o, who condemned the violent actions of the security forces and called for an explanation from Kenyan authorities.

"Although the County Government of Kisumu has no link with the politicians, we condemn in the strongest terms possible the Human Rights Violations meted against them while within the territory of Kisumu County. As the governor of Kisumu where the incident happened, I further call for detailed investigations into this matter," the governor said.