The High Court has directed the Attorney General to file responses within 14 days in a case filed by Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who is challenging his deportation from Kenya late last year.
The decision came after the court heard that despite being served two months ago, the State had not filed any formal response.
When the matter came up for compliance on Monday, lawyer Marwa, appearing for the Attorney General, informed the court that no responses had been filed.
He explained that the respondents were based in different offices, and letters sent to coordinate a joint response had not been answered. He then asked for an additional 21 days to file the documents.
However, Martha Karua, representing Besigye, strongly opposed the request. She told the court that the respondents had been served on July 28 and had failed to respond by September 29, despite the ample time provided.
“If you are inclined to grant them time, the State office must be cautioned. How do they take two months without responding?” she urged.
Karua also pointed out that the case had wider regional implications, saying their colleagues had travelled from Uganda because the matter was linked to Besigye’s political struggles at home and touched on security within the region.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi declined the Attorney General’s request for three weeks, noting that there had already been sufficient time to respond. He instead granted 14 days for the State to file its responses.
The case continues to attract regional attention as Besigye and his aide Obed Lutale challenge their deportation from Nairobi in November 2024. The two were arrested in the city and later transferred to Uganda, where they are facing charges of illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and treachery.
The prosecution alleges that between 2023 and 2024, they conspired to overthrow the Ugandan government.
Besigye, a former personal doctor to Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, is a prominent opposition figure and human rights activist who has faced numerous arrests and injuries during previous confrontations with authorities.
According to his wife Winnie Byanyima, he was seized in Nairobi on November 16 while attending the launch of Martha Karua’s memoir Against The Tide.
He was later detained under orders of a Ugandan military court, where he continues to contest treason charges.
Should the court rule in his favour, the deportation could be declared unlawful, amounting to an abduction and forced transfer.
This would potentially expose the Kenyan government to accountability for breaching domestic legal safeguards and international human rights obligations, and it could be compelled to pay damages and compensation for the violations.