After spending 38 days in Ugandan custody, Kenyan human rights defender Bob Njagi has spoken out about alleged human rights abuses in Uganda, urging East African governments to act decisively against violations in the region.
Njagi described his ordeal as part of a wider pattern of arbitrary arrests and mistreatment allegedly carried out by a military unit under General Muhozi Kainerugaba, the son of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni.
“The son Muhozi is undertaking these crimes against humanity. They have been undertaken at the Special Forces Command Center in Sarah Kasseni, which serves as a training ground for the presidential security team. They call themselves ‘next to none’ because they answer to no one—not the judiciary, not parliament, not even the executive,” Njagi said.
He claimed that more than 150 Ugandans remain in secret detention without trial, with some held for over a year. “These people have no cases. Most of them are detained for political reasons,” he said.
Njagi described the detention facilities as “the fridge” and “the freezer,” referring to the harsh and inhumane conditions faced by detainees.
Njagi further alleged that his arrest was part of a regional security coordination effort, involving authorities from Kenya and Tanzania.
“Our arrest was a coordinated one. The Kenyan government knew we were crossing into Tanzania. They raised the alarm, and those guys did the dirty job for them,” he claimed.
Calling for solidarity among East African citizens, Njagi urged Kenya to take a firm stand on human rights violations in neighboring countries.
“We are going to stand in solidarity with our brothers in Tanzania, and we will shut our borders in Kenya in solidarity with them. The Tanzanian embassy should be closed immediately until further notice, and our legislators in Parliament must push this motion,” he said.
He drew parallels with South Africa’s recent move to close Israel’s embassy in protest of human rights violations, saying Kenya should show similar moral leadership.
Njagi concluded by emphasizing that the fight for human rights transcends borders.
“We want governments guided by the values of human rights at the center of every administration. We shall continue to fight for these rights for as long as we are alive,” he declared.
