Arrest of FDC activists in Kenya

Terrorism charges and new questions for Uganda Kenya relations

ANALYSIS | IAN KATUSIIME | Thirty six activists of the Forum for Democratic Change who were arrested in Kenya on July 23 are facing terrorism charges in a baffling development that puts Kenya-Uganda relations under scrutiny. They were remanded to Luzira Prison till Aug. 13.

The 36 were arrested in Kisumu County, near the Ugandan border while attending a leadership training. Police however states that they were in Kenya to receive terrorism training in a move that has been widely condemned by human rights activists.

The activists are allied to former FDC president and opposition veteran Dr. Kizza Besigye under the Katonga Road faction that broke away from the faction of the party led by Patrick Amuriat and Nandala Mafabi.

Some of those arrested include Ronald Muhinda, George Ekwaro, Karl Marx M’Mugeni, Charles Nkonge, Henry Buyondo, Nalunkunga Grace, Apare Sarah, Mpungu Henry, Owamani James, Bukenya Hakim, Maido Latif, George Wazinge, Ahimbisibwe Owen, and Innocent Museveni.

Reports say Kenyan and Ugandan security personnel stormed the hotel where the activists were and violently arrested the 36 and drove them back to Uganda in the middle of the night. On return to Kampala, External Security Organsation (ESO) officers paraded the politicians before the media at Kololo Independence Grounds where they said the FDC members were engaging in suspected terrorist activities.

In a statement, Prof. Peter Anyang Nyong’o, the Governor of Kisumu County, condemned the “violent arrest” of the opposition politicians. “I am further informed that the politicians had been lawfully allowed to enter Kenya by immigration official to attend the meeting,” Nyong’o said. He challenged Kenyan Police to clarify if its officers were involved in the arrest.

Kenyan police have not commented on the matter. The police leadership in Kenya is in a transition phase with new appointments by President William Ruto amidst a protests movement that brought the country to a halt with more than 60 protestors killed in clashes over anti-government protests.

The Kisumu governor said the FDC group had no contact with his county government—a situation that if true, could have jeopardized the status of the Ugandan opposition politicians in the neighbouring country—going through its own political convulsions with protests that have been on since June.

Dr Besigye says the activists were cleared by Ugandan immigration and security on their way to attend the workshop at Ukweri Catholic Pastoral Centre Kisumu.

“They were lawfully invited into Kenya and entered Kenya lawfully. The place where they were to hold their workshop was lawfully engaged. They were illegally arrested; illegally deported; apart from the torture and other Human Rights violations done by government forces of both Uganda and Kenya,” he posted on X.

However tables appear to have dramatically turned when the activists were arrested, their residencies broken into; phones and computers confiscated. After being hauled back to Uganda, Besigye says the FDC members were detained in “safe houses” by Internal Security Organisation (ISO).

FDC members say it is purely political persecution. Amuriat and Nandala have stayed mum on the matter as their former compatriots are facing terrorism charges; a capital offence punishable by death. The duo are on a country tour with rallies ongoing in Gulu and Arua in a sign of the deep fallout that has left the FDC a shadow of its former self.

FDC leaders; Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and her deputy Doreen Nyanjura are some of those that have condemned the arrest and charges. An exchange between Semujju and Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka on the floor of parliament showed how politically charged the matter is.

Semujju said, “One of the 36 kidnapped is actually a registered refugee in Kenya, there was no extradition order, they were attending a leadership training.” He added, “Some of them were brutalised during the kidnapping. We want to ask government to tell us, under which arrangement did they go to Kenya to kidnap FDC leaders.”

In response, Kiwanuka said the suspects will go through the usual court procedures since they have been brought formally before the courts of law.

“If there are any issues of them being beaten [or] wrongly arrested, they can be raised in court at the appropriate time, and we have laws to deal with such. If in fact a person was tortured at the time of their arrest, that case will be dismissed. That is a good defense that you can put before the court,” he added.

Ssemujju however contended that his issue was government’s disregard of bilateral relations, questioning the legal basis upon which Ugandan security operatives carried out the arrest in another country.

“I have not complained that they were charged, I am talking about bilateral matters that you can walk into Kenya and kidnap people. Under what arrangement did you go to a Catholic church in Kenya and kidnap people and bring them without necessary legal documents. That is not a matter of court,” he said.

Kiwanuka however did not directly respond to Semujju’s queries; “Even the manner in which people are collected, if at all from a neighboring country or another country is prescribed by law and we are saying that these people were charged, they are properly before court and if you think the procedure was not done properly, then you can actually be a good witness to support their release.”

Now FDC is planning to issue a note verbale to the Kenyan High Commission in Kampala to protest what is an unprecedented moment in Kenya-Uganda relations.

Uganda Kenya relations

Uganda and Kenya have enjoyed cordial relations in spite of the typical trade spats over maize, milk, and recently oil. President Yoweri Museveni is known as an ally of President Ruto. The Kenyan leader has publicly praised Museveni and the latter has also been affectionate with Ruto even before he was elected.

President Museveni has also kept keen interest in Kenya for a longtime. From rumours of Ugandan troops being deployed in Kenya during the 2008 election riots to reports of Ugandan Intelligence being present in Nairobi during the hotly contested 2022 election between Ruto and veteran politician Raila Odinga.

During the finance bill protests in Kenya on June 25, protestors allegedly burnt Uganda House, the home of the Ugandan mission in Kenya, out of the perceived anger towards the Museveni Ruto bromance.

It is not clear what impact the violent arrest and deportation of FDC activists will portend for the relations between the two countries but pressure is piling up on Kenyan authorities to come clean on the matter.

Museveni has had good relations with Kenyan leaders in his 38 years. From the late former presidents; Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki to Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto’s immediate predecessor.

In the 1980s, Kenya provided a safe haven to Museveni, then a guerilla leader of the National Resistance Army, as he slipped from the Luweero jungles in central Uganda to coordinate with numerous other exiles operating out of Nairobi.

According to President’s Pressman, a book by Lee Njiru, Moi’s former press secretary, the longest serving Kenyan president at one point instructed aides to treat Museveni with respect describing him as Uganda’s next Head of State. This was in 1985 during the Nairobi peace talks between disparate rebel groups from Uganda.

Fast forward, Museveni appeared to have more interest in Uhuru Kenyatta, a son of Kenya’s first President, Jommo Kenyatta, becoming president in 2013. According to analysts, Uhuru’s presidency would be a precursor to a similar situation happening in Uganda: Muhoozi Kainerugaba taking over from his father, President Museveni. This was at the time the ‘Muhoozi Project’ was gaining traction in Uganda.

As Kibaki’s term came to an end, Museveni rooted for Uhuru who was battling an indictment from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly fomenting post-election violence in relation to the 2007 polls. Ruto equally faced charges.

Museveni did not seem to sit well with the old hand in Kenyan politics, Raila Odinga, who was also vying for the presidency. Museveni denounced the ICC and ingrained himself as a patron of Kenyatta who was considered a political novice. Museveni was invited as the guest speaker at Kenyatta’s inauguration in where he trod a familiar line on The Hague-based court. Uhuru assumed power while facing charges.