Activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo have been missing for close to a month, with clear indications they are being held in Uganda.
Their offence? Entering the country to root for President Yoweri Museveni’s rival, Robert Kyangulani (Bobi Wine).
It is increasingly becoming risky to be an activist in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The three presidents have adopted a hear no evil, see no evil and say no evil approach to the clampdown on activists.
Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire went through a harrowing experience in Tanzania when they visited to show solidarity with detained opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
Lawyer cum politician Martha Karua has had to fight tooth and nail to represent Uganda’s opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who was abducted while on a visit to Kenya and is facing trumped-up treason charges.
The government’s silence on Njagi and Oyoo is worrying and a clear indication that the three states are in collusion to suppress dissent.
Kenyans must stand in solidarity with Njagi and Oloo because, as Martin Niemoller says in his famous poem First they came for the Jews, there might be no one left to speak up when they come for you or me.
Quote of the day: “No mission is more important than preserving the lives of those who have been jailed for their principles.” —Russian journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov was born on October 30, 1961
