What’s behind Kenya’s increase in abductions?

It has become a worrying trend in Kenya. Out of nowhere, hooded men appear in unmarked vehicles wielding guns with the aim of kidnapping someone.

Victims are then blindfolded and taken to places that are not officially recognised police stations to be interrogated.

Foreign nationals have not been spared.

Tanzanian human rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai says she was abducted by armed men in Nairobi last Sunday afternoon but released hours later. She’d fled to Kenya in 2020 seeking asylum after facing increasing threats.

And last year, Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was reportedly kidnapped and taken to Uganda where he is currently facing a military court.

In today’s episode, Alan Kasujja hears from a father whose son was abducted, and speaks to an investigative journalist about what’s behind this spate of kidnappings.