Kampala, (UG);- Winnie Byanyima, the wife of veteran Ugandan opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye who reportedly went missing in Nairobi, Kenya has asked the government to free her husband from military jail where he is being detained in Kampala.
Besigye, a four-time presidential runner-up to President Yoweri Museveni and founder of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) was Tuesday night report to have disappeared on Saturday, November 16, 2024, in Nairobi where he had gone for official duties according to sources.
But shortly after reports of Besigye’s missing went viral on Tuesday night, Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS and wife to the ex-FDC president said her husband was kidnapped last Saturday while he was in Nairobi for Hon Martha Karua’s book launch and that he is a military detention in Kampala.
“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 in Nairobi for Hon. Martha Karua’s book launch. I am now reliably informed that he is in a military jail in Kampala,” Winnie Byanyima posted in the wee hours of Wednesday morning via social platform X.
“We, his family and lawyers, demand to see him. He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?”
Media reports earlier speculated that Dr Besigye had travelled to Nairobi for a meeting with unidentified individuals with his last known location as the affluent Riverside neighbourhood of Nairobi, but the sudden disappearance of one of Uganda’s vocalist opposition figures raises concerns midst the FDC fraternity and Uganda at large.
Ingrid Turinawe, a former FDC Women’s League leader, earlier on Tuesday expressed suspicions of foul play; saying “This kidnap will not leave you in your usual comfort zones. Just be rest assured you must handle him with care and make sure you produce him when he is alive!”
The detention in military jail, if tue, coincides with heightened tensions following the arrest of several FDC officials in Kenya, which observers have linked to his potential political ambitions, including speculation about a comeback to contest the 2026 presidential elections on the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) ticket.
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