Stella Nyanzi arrested at Busia border

Dr Nyanzi inside the room where she's detained

Dr Stella Nyanzi who is aspiring to become Kampala Woman Member of Parliament has been arrested at the Uganda-Kenya border in Busia town.

According to reports, Dr Nyanzi crossed the border to Kenya through a porous border point.

She reportedly returned to Uganda at about 9 pm on Saturday while travelling in a Toyota Ipsum. She was intercepted at a petrol station by a combined security team including the army, the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, police and other security agencies.

Dr Nyanzi posted on her Facebook page thus: “A car full of big men with stomachs in layer, thin black armed LDUs carrying AK47s and four military policemen wearing camouflage have now surrounded my car,” a Facebook post on Stella Nyanzi’s official page states.

Dr Nyanzi said that she spent Saturday night in a cell somewhere in Busia town

“I don’t know what police station I am detained in. My political assistant Rugumayo Ka Kusemererwa and I were picked from my car by a gang of armed officers in Busia. We were dumped into holding cells without any charges. No statements were taken from us. I am worried about the whereabouts of my driver and my campaign photographer. They were arrested ahead of the two of us but are not detained in our (unknown) detention facility,” she wrote. “What is our crime? Can somebody tell me? They did not even isolate us in isolation or quarantine holding facilities. We are in detention cells. Again, what is our crime? Is it a crime to be a Ugandan in Uganda? Third time, what is our crime?”

Security agencies are yet to disclose why Dr Nyanzi was arrested.

Uganda’s borders have been closed since March as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19.