The wife of Uganda veteran politician, Dr Kizza Besigye on Wednesday, November 27 revealed details of Besigye’s abduction in Nairobi.
In an interview on Citizen TV, Dr Winnie Byanyima said that her husband arrived in Nairobi on Saturday November 16 and was due to attend Martha Karua’s new book launch on Sunday November 17.
Upon his arrival in Nairobi, Besigye was invited by a close friend who was a British national to discuss the possibility of investing in political parties in Africa, an idea he was interested in exploring.
Winnie recounted that Dr. Besigye agreed to meet this friend at Riverside Apartments in Nairobi, accompanied by his party colleague Haji Obeid Utale, who is also a Ugandan national.
Besigye wife reveals details of his abduction
Upon arriving at the meeting place, Besigye and his party colleague were introduced another man whom he did not know .
Byanyima stated that shortly after the introduction there was a knock on the door and they heard people outside shouting that they were Kenya Police.
“The British national said he had a group of colleagues and friends and businesses who invest in Africa who wanted to support political parties and could support their mass mobilisation work and party activity.
So he was exploring this and he was invited to a meeting in Riverside and he went with his party colleague Haji Obeid Utale.
They arrived there, entered the room and were being introduced to two people, the one he knew (the British National) and another he didn’t know. A knock on the door and it is announced that Kenya police have arrived,” the Executive Director at UNAIDS narrated.
The British national was prompted to open the door when the persistent knocking continued. To his surprise, he found eight men in plain clothes who told him he was under arrest.
Besigye was surprised when he noticed that the British national who had invited him to the meeting was carrying two guns and a box of money.
Byanyima recounted, “In the room were this man and his friend with two guns and a box of money. The supposed police said, ‘You are under arrest.’ Besigye replied, ‘Wait a moment, I don’t understand why this man has two guns and a box of money. I did talk about fundraising, but I wasn’t expecting this.’”
Kenya denies any involvement in abduction of Uganda opposition leader
The British man fled, abandoning Besigye with the stranger, his fellow party member, and the alleged policemen.
The veteran politician and Utale were subsequently forced into a vehicle and transported through the night toward the Ugandan border.
Despite Byanyima’s claims, Kenya has strongly denied any involvement in Besigye’s abduction.
Also Read: Ruto Addresses Abductions and Police Killings
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei stated that Kenya was unaware of Besigye’s presence in the country and had no role in the incident.
“The circumstances surrounding Kizza’s travel are not known to us because no information was shared with us prior to his trip.
“We did not know which hotel he was booked into or where he stayed, and therefore we were not in a position to provide him with any additional security,” Korir said.
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