A group of 35 Ugandan citizens has moved to court accusing Kenyan security officers of kidnapping, assaulting, and secretly deporting them across the border to Uganda, in what they describe as a grave breach of constitutional and international law.
In the petition, the Ugandans — said to be members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) — claim they lawfully entered Kenya on July 23, 2024, after securing approval from the Department of Immigration to participate in a week-long leadership training workshop at the Ukweli Pastoral Centre in Kisumu.
They insist that their trip was peaceful and fully documented.
Among the petitioners is a refugee officially registered in Kenya and serving as Director of the Community Support Initiative for Refugees. He told the court that he had travelled from Nairobi to Kisumu to join the delegation and spend the night with them at the training venue before the incident occurred.
According to the group, their calm evening turned chaotic when a team of armed men stormed the facility at night.
The men, who they believe were drawn from both Kenyan and Ugandan security forces, allegedly beat them up, arrested them without explanation, and bundled them into vehicles that sped toward the border.
They allege that they were taken under heavy guard and handed over to Ugandan officers under the cover of darkness, without being charged, informed of their rights, or given access to lawyers. None of them, they say, was taken before a Kenyan court or issued with a deportation order.
The petitioners rely partly on a public statement made on July 29, 2024, by Uganda Police spokesperson ACP Rusoke Kituuma, who confirmed their arrest by Kenyan security agencies before being transferred to Ugandan authorities.
The police accused the group of engaging in “covert subversive activities” against the Ugandan government, claims the petitioners strongly deny.
They argue that the actions of both countries’ security agencies violated their rights under the Kenyan Constitution, including the right to human dignity, security, movement, fair administrative action, and fair trial as outlined in Articles 28, 29, 39, 47, and 49(1).
One of the petitioners, who holds refugee status in Kenya, says his forced return contravened international law and the Refugee Act, 2021, which bars the repatriation of refugees to countries where they risk persecution.
After their arrival in Kampala, the group claims they were kept incommunicado for days before being charged on July 29, 2024, with offences related to terrorism training under Uganda’s Anti-Terrorism Act, Cap 120.
The petition, filed under Articles 22 and 258 of the Constitution, seeks a court declaration that Kenyan authorities violated their constitutional and international obligations.
They maintain that no lawful extradition process, warrant, or deportation order was ever issued, rendering their arrest and transfer unlawful and unconstitutional.
