Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu the elder brother of National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine and the party’s chief mobilizer was reportedly abducted by heavily armed men at Kubbiri roundabout in Kampala.
Around the same time NUP deputy spokesperson Alex Waisswa Mufumbiro was also allegedly seized by armed operatives shortly after leaving the party headquarters in Makerere Kavule.
The incidents happened just hours after Bobi Wine and other opposition leaders held a press conference condemning the continued detention of Dr. Kizza Besigye raising fears of a renewed oppression on opposition figures in Uganda.
Eyewitnesses report that Nyanzi was forcibly taken by masked men who dragged him into a drone a notorious unmarked van used for alleged state kidnappings before speeding off to an unknown location.
Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi has confirmed the incidents on his official x (twitter) platform.
“News just in indicates that Nyanzi Fred Ssentamu (Chairman), the NUP head of mobilisation has been abducted by gun-wielding men in plain clothes, who drove him off in a drone. We had just finished a meeting at our party headquarters and he drove off. He was waylaid and pulled out of his car around Kubiri.”
“Our legal team is doing everything possible to trace where he could have been taken. The regime is clearly in panic, especially as we step up efforts to demand for the release of all political prisoners.”
Similarly, Mufumbiro was reportedly ambushed outside NUP headquarters and whisked away by security officers.
Authorities have remained silent on the whereabouts of both Nyanzi and Mufumbiro fueling speculation that the abductions are part of a wider plan to weaken the party.
NUP president Bobi Wine took to social media to express his anger and frustration
“Our comrade and Head of Mobilisation for comrade Nyanzi Fred Ssentamu has been abducted by heavily armed men and taken away in a drone to an unknown destination! He has been abducted on gunpoint from Kubbiri Roundabout. The criminal regime is on rampage, BUT WE ARE NOT INTIMIDATED.”
For years, Uganda’s opposition has accused the government of using abductions as a tool to silence opposition.
The infamous “drones” have become a symbol of fear, with many opposition figures and activists being taken in similar fashion some resurfacing weeks or months later with signs of torture, while others remain missing indefinitely.
The abduction of high-profile figures like Nyanzi and Mufumbiro marks an escalation in these tactics. Given Nyanzi’s critical role as NUP’s mobilization chief his disappearance is seen as an attempt to paralyze the party’s grassroots efforts.
With Uganda’s political space already tense due to the ongoing detention of Dr. Kizza Besigye these developments could trigger further unrest.
