NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The wife of Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye said Wednesday that he has been kidnapped in neighboring Kenya and is being held in a Ugandan military prison.
Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, wrote on the social platform X that her husband was last seen on Saturday in Kenya, where he attended a politician’s book launch. She said she was “reliably aware” that he was being held in a military prison.
“We, his family and his lawyers, demand to see him. He’s not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military prison?” Byanyima wrote.
Besigye, a fierce critic of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, has previously been arrested and assaulted.
The Ugandan government has not commented on the latest incident involving Besigye.
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Korir Singoei told local media that Kenya was not involved in the alleged incident.
Besigye, once Museveni’s personal physician, has contested and lost four presidential elections.
Museveni has ruled the East African country since 1986 and human rights groups previously criticized him for human rights abuses against opposition figures.
