Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago asked Kenyan lawmakers to find out why their government let Dr. Kizza Besigye get arrested.
Besigye and his friend Hajj Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya were taken from Nairobi last November by Ugandan security. They drove them across the border to Uganda. Both men faced charges of having illegal guns and bullets. The military court in Kampala also accused them of treachery.
Kenya has said nothing about what happened. This makes people think Kenya helped with the arrest.
On Thursday, Lukwago told Kenyan lawmakers they should ask their leaders why Uganda forces were allowed to enter Kenya and take people.
"We ask the government of Kenya, I am glad the MPs are here, the Senators are here; why don't you demand that treaty to be put on the table, that you have an agreement between Kenya and Uganda to exchange political prisoners? That has taken us by surprise because there is a treaty that provides for the mechanism and the procedure. We have extradition laws that are being abused. So, these are serious matters we need to pursue jointly and in a concerted manner, locally, here and in Kenya, in Uganda, at the East Africa level, at the continental level, and the international level," he said.
Lukwago spoke at an event where Kenya's former Justice Minister Martha Karua changed her party name. Karua works as Besigye's main lawyer.
Many call Kenya the "abduction capital of the world" because so many foreigners get kidnapped there and sent back to their countries.
Before Besigye was arrested, 36 members from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change party were grabbed in Kisumu by Uganda's Military Intelligence. They were sent to Uganda and charged with terrorism.
The danger grew when armed men took four Turkish people living as refugees in Kenya last October and sent them home.
A month after that, Besigye was taken.
Lukwago believes Kenya helped make it happen.
"Besigye was kidnapped from here. There was no official statement to condemn the act of rendition. Up to the present moment, it has not been made. And remember, Museveni's son had warned Kenya that one day I would invade Kenya. Indeed, he abused the territorial integrity of Kenya, crossed over to Riverside here, kidnapped Besigye, and took him back without even going through immigration. The Government of Kenya has not defended its territorial integrity, not taking Uganda to the ICC or the other international forum, and that is a matter that is really baffling us back home," he said.
"So, we invite you to continue with the solidarity; we fight the transnational, cross-border abductions and all these other forms of transgressions as a people united under Jumuiya," he added.
In Uganda, Besigye faces treason charges in a regular court after the Supreme Court ruled military courts cannot try civilians.
Besigye and his friend Hajj Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya were taken from Nairobi last November by Ugandan security. They drove them across the border to Uganda. Both men faced charges of having illegal guns and bullets. The military court in Kampala also accused them of treachery.
Kenya has said nothing about what happened. This makes people think Kenya helped with the arrest.
On Thursday, Lukwago told Kenyan lawmakers they should ask their leaders why Uganda forces were allowed to enter Kenya and take people.
"We ask the government of Kenya, I am glad the MPs are here, the Senators are here; why don't you demand that treaty to be put on the table, that you have an agreement between Kenya and Uganda to exchange political prisoners? That has taken us by surprise because there is a treaty that provides for the mechanism and the procedure. We have extradition laws that are being abused. So, these are serious matters we need to pursue jointly and in a concerted manner, locally, here and in Kenya, in Uganda, at the East Africa level, at the continental level, and the international level," he said.
Lukwago spoke at an event where Kenya's former Justice Minister Martha Karua changed her party name. Karua works as Besigye's main lawyer.
Many call Kenya the "abduction capital of the world" because so many foreigners get kidnapped there and sent back to their countries.
Before Besigye was arrested, 36 members from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change party were grabbed in Kisumu by Uganda's Military Intelligence. They were sent to Uganda and charged with terrorism.
The danger grew when armed men took four Turkish people living as refugees in Kenya last October and sent them home.
A month after that, Besigye was taken.
Lukwago believes Kenya helped make it happen.
"Besigye was kidnapped from here. There was no official statement to condemn the act of rendition. Up to the present moment, it has not been made. And remember, Museveni's son had warned Kenya that one day I would invade Kenya. Indeed, he abused the territorial integrity of Kenya, crossed over to Riverside here, kidnapped Besigye, and took him back without even going through immigration. The Government of Kenya has not defended its territorial integrity, not taking Uganda to the ICC or the other international forum, and that is a matter that is really baffling us back home," he said.
"So, we invite you to continue with the solidarity; we fight the transnational, cross-border abductions and all these other forms of transgressions as a people united under Jumuiya," he added.
In Uganda, Besigye faces treason charges in a regular court after the Supreme Court ruled military courts cannot try civilians.
