Another activist David Musiri 'abducted' from home

Political activist and former National Unity Platform (NUP) head of institutions David Musiri has reportedly been abducted from his home on Salaama Road in Kampala, hours after gunmen seized political analyst Ronald Leonard Egesa.

NUP secretary general David Lewis Rubongoya reported Musiri’s disappearance on Saturday morning. 

“Activist Musiri David also apparently taken away by heavily armed operatives from his home on Salaama Road this morning. Very unfortunate times we’re living in,” Rubongoya wrote.

He accompanied the post with calls for Musiri’s release and that of political prisoners in Uganda.

Academic and activist Stella Nyanzi also reported that armed men had abducted Musiri. Mordecai Muriisa posted a similar account, linking the timing to Egesa’s reported abduction the previous night.

No official explanation was available in the material reviewed for this report.

Musiri’s reported disappearance follows Egesa’s seizure at the shared Radio One and Akaboozi FM premises on November 13, 2026.

According to Radio One’s account, armed men in civilian clothes took Egesa from its car park in a white van commonly known as a “drone”. He had just appeared on an Akaboozi FM talk show with Jude Bukenya.

Agora also reported Egesa’s abduction and described the men as military personnel. Their identities and any connection to a security agency remained unverified in the initial accounts.

Musiri is a political and human rights activist who built his public profile through student activism at Makerere University and opposition organising. He previously headed NUP’s institutions wing, which coordinated the party’s activities in universities and other learning institutions.

Benjamin Akiso replaced him as head of institutions during NUP’s leadership elections on June 11, 2025. Musiri later appeared on the Democratic Front’s list of parliamentary candidates for Makindye West ahead of the 2026 elections.

Born in Luwafu in Makindye, Musiri has spoken about how his struggles to pay school fees shaped his opposition to fee increases at Makerere. He also holds a diploma in telecommunications engineering

Musiri has previously alleged abduction and abuse. In 2021, he said plain-clothes gunmen seized him in Kampala after the general election and held him for four days. 

He alleged that his captors beat and interrogated him about the opposition’s post-election plans.