Two Missing Kenyan activists Were Arrested, Held In 'Fridge', Says Ugandan President

Last Updated:November 09, 2025, 18:26 IST

Yoweri Museveni admitted detaining Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, calling them "experts in riots." Their release followed diplomatic talks led by Musalia Mudavadi.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni (X)

For the first time, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said that Kenyan activists, who were missing in his country for five weeks, were “experts in riots" who had then been put “in the fridge for some days".

BBC quoted eyewitnesses as saying that they saw Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo being forced into a car by masked uniformed men after a political event where they were supporting Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine.

However, the authorities had till now denied that the activists were detained.

While replying to a question about the recent protests in neighbouring Tanzania during an interview on Saturday evening, Museveni labelled the two men as “experts in riots" who had then been put “in the fridge for some days".

Without naming the activists, he said the two Kenyan activists were released after he received calls from “some Kenyan leaders" asking him to return them.

He also accused foreign groups for stoking up trouble and said “the ones who are doing that game here in Uganda will end up badly".

According to BBC, Njagi and Oyoo were welcomed by supporters at the main airport in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on Saturday.

“Thirty-eight days of abduction was not easy. We didn’t think that we were going to come out alive because we were being abducted by the military," Njagi said.

Following their release, Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said their release followed “sustained diplomatic engagement between Kenya and Uganda".

News world Two Missing Kenyan activists Were Arrested, Held In 'Fridge', Says Ugandan President

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