Published on 22/11/2024
Uganda’s Minister for ICT Chris Baryomunsi has alleged that the Kenyan government was in touch with the Ugandan administration in order to facilitate the arrest of official opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Nairobi.
On Saturday, November 16, Besigye was arrested in Nairobi after he attended a book launch hosted by NARC-Kenya party leader Martha Karua.
Four days later he was arraigned in court in Uganda on allegations of being in possession of firearms and ammunition.
According to the minister, such an operation would require the full support of both administrations.
“Dr Kizza Besigye was arrested and the government of Uganda was in touch with the government of Kenya otherwise how would you arrest somebody in the middle of Nairobi and then bring him back to Uganda either through airport without full knowledge and support of the state there in Kenya,” the minister told Uganda’s media in an interview.
He opined that both administrations could be privy to intelligence information that is not available to the public.
He cited an instance where he travelled with Besigye to Nairobi during the Gen Z wave of protests, citing that he was not arrested then.
“The question is why was he arrested in Kenya and why didn’t they wait for him? It depends on intelligence information the security officials have,” he stated.
“Maybe many of us don’t consume intelligence the security officials have because Besigye have been travelling.”
His remarks differed with those made by Foreign Affairs PS Dr Korir Sing’Oei who recently claimed that the Kenyan security agents were not aware of Besigye’s presence in the country.
“The circumstances surrounding his travel are not known to us because no information was shared with us before he travelled,” the PS said on media on Wednesday.
“We do not know which hotel he was booked to or which apartment he stayed and therefore we were not in a position to necessarily provide him with certain additional security.”
During the interview, the PS assured the public that Kenya is still a safe haven for all foreigners and locals.
