The East Africa Law Society (EALS) has raised alarm over what it describes as a growing pattern of State-orchestrated abductions and disappearances in the region, following the mysterious cases involving two Kenyan activists in Uganda and a Tanzanian diplomat.
In a statement issued on October 24, the regional lawyers’ body condemned what it called “the weaponisation of State and judicial power,” warning that the recent incidents point to a deeper crisis of impunity and erosion of constitutional freedoms across East Africa.
EALS expressed deep concern over the continued disappearance of Kenyan human rights defenders Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi, who were allegedly abducted on October 1 in Uganda’s Kaliro District.
The society also called for answers regarding the disappearance of Tanzanian diplomat and government critic Humphrey Polepole, missing since October 6 from his Dar es Salaam home.
“These are not isolated incidents,” EALS said in a strongly worded statement. “They are symptoms of a broader malaise the corrosion of constitutionalism and the quiet normalisation of enforced disappearances and cross-border renditions as tools of political control.”
The society criticised a High Court ruling in Uganda on October 22, which declared Oyoo and Njagi as “missing persons,” saying it was “morally hollow and jurisprudentially tragic.”
“The writ of habeas corpus is a constitutional prayer to the conscience of the State, not a bureaucratic exercise,” the statement read. “When courts accept State denial without credible proof or accountability, they cease to be temples of justice and risk becoming altars of impunity.”
The court, presided over by Justice Simon Peter Kinobe, found no direct evidence linking Ugandan authorities to the activists’ disappearance and advised their lawyers to file a missing persons report with police.
However, EALS said the ruling represented a failure to protect fundamental rights, arguing that governments are increasingly using legal loopholes and security systems to stifle dissent.
“The court, which ought to be the sanctuary of the powerless, is becoming a stage where procedural legitimacy conceals substantive injustice,” the society added.
The organisation reminded regional governments that their constitutions as well as international treaties such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance explicitly prohibit such violations.
“By permitting disappearances within its jurisdiction, the State violates not only domestic law but also binding international obligations,” EALS noted.
The lawyers’ body warned that these incidents threaten to undermine the East African Community’s vision of democracy and the rule of law.
“Impunity erodes regional integration; a union of lawlessness cannot produce a community of law,” the statement read.
EALS is now demanding the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of the missing individuals, independent investigations, and a judicial renewal to restore public trust.
The organisation has also urged the EAC Secretariat, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to intervene urgently.
“Law without justice is tyranny,” EALS President Ramadhan M. Abubakar said. “The enforced disappearance of East African citizens is not merely a crime against individuals; it is an assault on civilisation itself.”
Back in Uganda, human rights groups continue to demand answers over the fate of Oyoo and Njagi, who had reportedly joined Bobi Wine’s campaign trail before being forced into a vehicle by armed men believed to be security agents. Their phones were later switched off.
Meanwhile, in Tanzania, Humphrey’s family remains in anguish after discovering signs of a violent abduction at his home a broken door, cut wires, and bloodstains.
For now, families and activists across the region continue to wait not just for answers, but for accountability.
