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Opposition Anger as Uganda's Museveni Rejects Abduction Reports

Concern is rising in Uganda over the alleged forced disappearances of government critics across the country in the lead-up to and following last month's general election, with local publication the Daily Monitor saying that over 300 people have reportedly disappeared in just over three months. The Monitor reports that President Yoweri Museveni has urged the nation to ignore the talk of "disappearances". In a televised address on February 13, 2021, Museveni said 318 citizens were arrested by security operatives attached to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence and a commando unit that had been fighting Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Many of the reported adbuctees are opposition supporters from central Uganda where Museveni lost to his closest contender Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine. The Monitor reports that eye-witness accounts indicate that citizens have been arrested or kidnapped by armed men moving in 'drone cars' with tinted windows and no number plates. Veteran opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye said Museveni's statement was an admission that the president had overseen the violation of Uganda's constitution and laws on human rights and freedoms.

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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Solidarity Conference in 2014.

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