Kenyan Activist Bob Njagi Abducted in Uganda While Campaigning for Bobi Wine

Kenyan activist Bob Njagi, the National Chairman of the Free Kenya Movement, has allegedly been abducted in Kampala, Uganda, alongside the movement’s Secretary General Nicholas Oyoo, while campaigning in support of opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the movement’s National Coordinator Felix Wambua said the two were seized at Stabex Petrol Station in Kireka around 3:00 pm by unidentified men and taken to an undisclosed location.

“I hereby wish to confirm that our Chairman, Bob Njagi, and our Secretary General, Nicholas Oyoo, were today arrested by unknown persons at Stabex Petrol Station, Kireka, Kampala, and taken to an undisclosed location,” Wambua said. He urged supporters to remain calm as the movement engaged with Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) and Ugandan authorities to establish the whereabouts of the missing leaders.

Eyewitnesses reported that a clay-coloured van pulled up at the station before four armed men and a woman forced the two activists inside. Their fate and current location remain unknown.

This marks the second abduction for Njagi, who last year revealed he had been held for 32 days in a dark cell after being seized in Mlolongo, Machakos County, during Kenya’s anti-government protests.

The incident comes just days after Bobi Wine was officially cleared by Uganda’s Electoral Commission to contest in the January 2026 presidential election against long-time ruler President Yoweri Museveni, who is seeking a record seventh term in office.

Wine condemned the abduction, accusing the Ugandan state of targeting his supporters and foreign allies.

“We are deeply disturbed by the disappearance of our Kenyan brothers. Their only crime was to stand in solidarity with us as we demand freedom in our own country,” Wine said in a statement. “We demand their immediate release and remind the regime that Uganda does not belong to one man.”

The NUP Kenya Chapter has also joined in search efforts and called on Nairobi to intervene. “This is not just a Ugandan matter; it is an East African issue. If Kenyan citizens are unsafe in Kampala, then all regional integration is meaningless,” the chapter said.

Ugandan authorities, however, dismissed allegations of abduction. Police spokesperson Fred Enanga told local media they had no record of Njagi or Oyoo in custody.

“We are not aware of any arrest of the said individuals. If there are concerns, the Kenyan High Commission should liaise directly with our security agencies. We caution against spreading alarmist reports that may incite unnecessary panic,” Enanga said.

But human rights organisations were quick to draw parallels with Uganda’s history of enforced disappearances of opposition activists, especially during election seasons.

The Free Kenya Movement has given authorities 24 hours to disclose the activists’ whereabouts or release them unconditionally.

For Njagi, who has already survived one abduction in Kenya, the latest disappearance underscores the dangers faced by regional activists challenging entrenched political systems.