Kenyan activist Bob Njagi has claimed that soldiers from the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) were secretly deployed to Kenya to help suppress the 2024 Gen Z protests, which saw thousands of young people take to the streets demanding political and economic reforms.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Wednesday night, Njagi said that while he was detained in Uganda, some UPDF officers confessed to participating in the Nairobi demonstrations. He claimed the soldiers told him they were disguised in Kenyan police uniforms before crossing the border to quell the protests.
Njagi said the soldiers became friendly with him during his detention at a UPDF camp near Kampala, where they allegedly admitted their involvement. “One shocking revelation is that there were soldiers who revealed to me that they participated in the Gen Z protest in Kenya. They were moved from Uganda, dressed in Kenyan police uniforms, to help suppress the riots,” Njagi stated.
He described this as part of a broader collaboration between Kenya and Uganda, which he said has long raised concerns among human rights organizations about cross-border security operations. “This is a collaboration between States; that is why you are seeing what is happening in Kenya resonating in Uganda and Tanzania,” he added.
Njagi recounted that he and fellow activist Nicholas Oyoo were held at a UPDF military facility before being transferred following a meeting between UPDF Commander General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, President Yoweri Museveni’s son, and other senior officers. He said their captors suspected them of trying to mobilize Ugandan youth for protests.
“They went through our phones for 38 days but never charged us with any crime,” Njagi said, adding that they were eventually moved to a hospital before being released. Oyoo, meanwhile, said he was handcuffed and beaten after refusing to cooperate during interrogation sessions about his WhatsApp messages.
Kenyans.co.ke reported that it could not independently verify Njagi’s allegations about UPDF deployment in Kenya.
Following his release, Njagi announced plans to run for president in 2027, saying his campaign would focus on fighting human rights abuses and promoting justice. “We are moving away from protest to power,” he declared. “I will be vying for the presidency in 2027, and we ask Kenyans to join the People Power Movement as an alternative voice of the people.”
Njagi and Oyoo were freed on November 7 and handed over to Kenyan authorities at the Busia border, 38 days after their abduction on October 1.
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