Nairobi — Kenya's continued silence over the abduction of its nationals in foreign countries is drawing criticism, as families and rights groups accuse the government of abandoning citizens targeted for their activism abroad.
The latest case involves human rights defenders Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who were abducted in Kampala, Uganda, by men believed to be security officers while showing solidarity with opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine).
Six days later, Ugandan police deny holding them and Kenya has issued no firm condemnation or demand for accountability.
The muted response mirrors a worrying pattern.
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In May 2025, activist Boniface Mwangi was seized by plainclothes officers in Tanzania, tortured, and dumped near the Kenya border after attending an opposition court hearing in Dar es Salaam.
Activist Mwabili Mwagodi was also abducted in Tanzania yet the Kenyan government barely reacted beyond a statement of "ongoing engagement."
Critics now say Kenya's quiet diplomacy amounts to complicity.
"Silence has become the government's foreign policy," Hussein Khalid of Vocal Africa said. "It's as if Kenya fears defending its own citizens when they are targeted for speaking truth to power."
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi had previously stated that Kenyan activists "transfer their bad behavior" to other countries and therefore deserve to face consequences there, comments then many saw as legitimizing repression.
The indifference, observers say, is consistent with a regime known for cracking down on critics at home.
President William Ruto's government has faced accusations of stifling dissent prompting questions over whether its silence abroad stems from the same intolerance of dissent.
Notably, even prominent figures such as former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and Martha Karua, the People's Liberation Party leader, have previously been deported or denied entry in politically charged circumstances yet Nairobi's reaction remained muted.
For families of Njagi and Oyoo, hope is fading fast.
Despite assurances from Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'Oei that the matter is being handled "through official channels," no progress has been made, and the two remain missing.
Rights groups warn that Kenya's failure to take a firm stand risks normalizing what they call "East Africa's abduction crisis" a growing trend of cross-border disappearances targeting activists and opposition voices.
"The government cannot champion Pan-African unity while staying quiet when its own citizens vanish across borders," said one activist. "Diplomatic silence is not neutrality it's betrayal."
