NARC party leader Martha Karua has shared details of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye's last moments before being kidnapped in Nairobi.
In a statement on Wednesday, November 20, the lawyer said Besigye arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, November 16, and checked into the Waridi Paradise Hotel and Suites.
According to Karua, Besigye then left the hotel with a taxi driver for a meeting at 108 Riverside Apartments, Apt. No. C1102 never to be seen again.
"The driver waited for him in the basement parking from about 4:30 PM to late evening until around 4:00 AM on Sunday when he gave up and left, having received no response to his several messages.
"Hon. Kizza Besigye was scheduled to attend and speak at Hon. Martha Karua’s book launch on Sunday, the 17th of November, where he was a no-show," Karua said.
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Karua noted that Besigye's family has not been able to trace him since he was last dropped off at Riverside Apartments, and all calls have gone unanswered.
"This occurrence is deeply disturbing and of grave concern. We suspect that Dr. Bessigye may have been abducted after he was dropped at the Riverside Apartments, most likely by Ugandan authorities working in cahoots with and facilitated by Kenyan authorities," she further stated.
On Wednesday morning, Besigye's wife Winnie Byanyima said her husband was abducted while in Nairobi for Karua's book launch.
In a statement on X, she 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.
Byanyima further claimed that following the abduction, Besigye was transported to a military jail in Kampala where he is being held.
"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?" She said.
