Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye wants top Kenyan officials declared unfit to hold public office, citing his abduction and deportation from Nairobi late last year.

The veteran politician is targeting Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya, and other senior government officials for their alleged role in his extradition to Uganda in November 2024.

In a petition filed at the High Court in Kenya, Besigye, 68, and his political aide Obeid Lutale argue that the officials are “jointly and severally liable” for violating the Kenyan Constitution over their abduction and removal from Kenya on November 16, 2024.

They claim the operation was carried out by Ugandan police in concert with Kenyan security officers, without any legal or due process. The petition states that Uganda’s government is on record acknowledging that the arrest and extradition were conducted with the involvement of Kenyan officials.

“An order that the respondents violated the Constitution and are thus unfit to remain in office under this Constitution,” the petition reads.

Other officials named include Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja, Immigration Director-General Evelyn Cheluget, and a senior immigration officer in charge of the Malaba border post.

When the matter came before Justice Lawrence Mugambi on Monday, Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor asked for more time to file a response. But, senior counsel Martha Karua and James wa Njeri objected, noting that the AG had been served with court papers on July 28.

Justice Mugambi granted the AG 14 days to file replies and set the hearing for February 25.

Reparations sought

Apart from seeking declarations that the officials are unfit to hold office, Dr Besigye is also demanding damages for what he terms his illegal abduction and extradition.

“A declaration that the extradition and or repatriation of the petitioners from Kenya to Uganda was illegal, unconstitutional, and did not meet the strict requirements of the Extradition (Commonwealth Countries) Act Cap 77,” the petition stated.

Besigye and Lutale said they were arrested on November 16, 2024, in Nairobi, shortly after attending a book launch hosted by Karua.

Narrating their ordeal, the duo said shortly before the abduction, about eight men in civilian clothes armed with sub-machine guns introduced themselves as Kenyan police and informed them that they were under arrest. They were taken to the basement of the apartment complex they were in.

They were then bundled into a vehicle with four other persons. The vehicle was escorted in a convoy to the Malaba border post.

“…and it is from there that they got to know that the four (4) persons in the vehicle with them were Ugandans after they heard them speak in the local dialect ‘Runyankore’,” Dr Besigye said.

Upon arrival in Kampala, they were detained incommunicado at Makindye Military Barracks. They were later arraigned before a military court and charged with illegal possession of firearms while in Kenya—an offence not listed under Schedule 1 of Uganda’s Extradition Act.

The petition accuses the Kenyan officials of facilitating their abduction, which exposed them to political persecution, prosecution, torture, indignity, and threats to their lives.

It also argues that despite being arrested in Kenya, they were never brought before a court “as soon as reasonably possible” as required under Article 49(1)(f) of the Constitution.

“Instead, they were handed over to officers from the Republic of Uganda, an act not anticipated or sanctioned by the Constitution or any Kenyan law,” the petition states.