At the 15th East African Community (EAC) Inter-Parliamentary Games in Kampala on December 6, 2025, Speaker of Kenya’s National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula took center stage with a passionate call for unity and reform in the region. Wetang’ula’s remarks, delivered to lawmakers from across East Africa, highlighted mounting concerns over the continued arrest of EAC citizens lacking travel and work permits—a practice he warned was undermining the very spirit of regional integration.
“Integration is not optional. We all know that EAC countries are stronger together than apart,” Wetang’ula declared, as reported by People Daily. His words echoed the founding vision of the EAC: to foster a common currency, customs union, and, ultimately, a political federation. But recent events have cast a long shadow over these ambitions, exposing deep rifts and persistent barriers to free movement and trade.
Wetang’ula urged legislators from all EAC member states to enact laws that would eliminate these barriers, making it easier for people and goods to move across borders. “I pray that a political federation of the EAC comes to fruition in our lifetime,” he said, underscoring the urgency of the moment. He also lauded Kenya’s recent decision to abolish visa requirements for all African nationals, describing it as a crucial step toward greater mobility and integration. “EAC borders should symbolize sovereignty and not hinder mobility,” he emphasized.
But as Wetang’ula spoke of unity and hope, cracks in the EAC’s foundation were becoming ever more apparent. Tensions have been mounting across several member states, with human rights abuses and political repression drawing sharp criticism from both regional leaders and the international community.
In Kenya, the high-profile abduction of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye while attending Martha Karua’s book launch in Nairobi has sent shockwaves through political circles. Despite calls from the international community for his release, Besigye remains detained as of December 6, 2025, according to People Daily. The incident has fueled concerns about cross-border political interference and the erosion of civil liberties.
Uganda, meanwhile, has found itself at the center of a growing storm. Since the start of 2025, authorities there have arrested at least 550 individuals—including members and supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP), the country’s main opposition party. More than 300 people have been detained since the official start of campaigning in September, according to a statement by United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk, cited by multiple news outlets.
The charges leveled against these detainees range from public nuisance and disobedience of lawful orders to assault, obstruction, and incitement of violence. But it’s the methods used by security forces that have drawn the most alarm. According to the UN, heavily armed units have repeatedly intervened at NUP campaign events, deploying live ammunition, tear gas, whips, batons, water cannon, and chemical irritants to disperse supporters. In the eastern town of Iganga, at least one person was killed and three others injured in late November or early December when security forces opened fire on a rally.
“It is deeply regrettable that election campaigns have once again been marked by widespread arbitrary arrests, detentions and the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against the opposition, as well as undue restriction on press freedom,” Turk said in his statement. He described a disturbing pattern of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and other forms of ill treatment over the past year—a pattern that, he warned, threatens to undermine the legitimacy of Uganda’s upcoming January 2026 elections.
Perhaps most chilling are the reports of detainees being transported in unmarked vans—known locally as “drones”—to unofficial sites referred to as “safe houses,” where they are held incommunicado and deprived of basic legal rights. Under international law, Turk reminded Ugandan authorities, detainees must be held only in officially recognized facilities. The practice of secret detention, he said, “violates international law.”
Several emblematic cases have brought these abuses into sharp relief. Among them: the bodyguard of the NUP leader, who was presented in court “visibly shaking and showing other signs of physical torture,” and two Kenyan activists—Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo—who were held incommunicado for more than a month after joining a rally led by Ugandan opposition figure Bobi Wine. The activists’ ordeal ended only after public outcry and intervention at the highest levels. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni later admitted to detaining them, describing the pair as “experts in riots” who had been “put in the fridge for some days.”
The climate of fear and repression has not been limited to politicians and activists. Journalists, too, have found themselves in the crosshairs, with recent reports of accreditation withdrawals and physical assaults on members of the press. Turk called on the Ugandan government to “halt all violence against the media,” warning that attacks on press freedom further erode public trust and democratic norms.
Tanzania, another EAC member, has also come under scrutiny following its recently concluded elections. President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration faces accusations of mass killings and the suppression of dissenting voices—a situation that has only deepened regional unease. Critics argue that such actions run counter to the EAC’s founding principles and threaten to derail progress toward deeper integration.
Against this backdrop, Wetang’ula’s call for unity and reform takes on added urgency. He reminded fellow lawmakers that the EAC was conceived as a vehicle for shared prosperity and stability—a vision that can only be realized if member states uphold the rule of law and respect fundamental rights. “We must not allow our borders to become barriers,” he insisted.
UN chief Volker Turk echoed this sentiment, urging Ugandan authorities to “fully and impartially investigate all allegations of enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture or ill treatment.” He called for the immediate release of all individuals arbitrarily deprived of liberty and pressed the government to ensure that future elections are conducted in an atmosphere of openness and respect for human rights.
As the region looks ahead to a pivotal year, the stakes could hardly be higher. The EAC’s dream of a common market and political federation hangs in the balance, threatened by old divisions and new abuses. Whether leaders will heed the calls for reform remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the struggle for integration and justice in East Africa is far from over.
For now, the voices of those calling for an end to repression and the fulfillment of the EAC’s founding vision continue to resonate—reminding all who listen that the path to unity is paved with both hope and hard choices.
