Onyonka claims his father once hid Museveni when he was a political fugitive
By Luke Oluoch, November 10, 2025Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka has recounted an incident when his father hosted and hid Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni when he was a political fugitive.
In an interview with a local TV station on Monday, November 10, 2025, Onyonka disclosed how Museveni walked into their rural home compound.
His father, then a senior Kenyan government official, hosted Museveni, who had fled Uganda after Idi Amin’s 1971 coup that deposed Milton Obote.
Onyonka wondered what fate would have befallen Museveni had his father decided to surrender him to the agents of Obote.
“In 1978, he walked into my home in Kisii. By that time, my father was a minister; he needed to be kept and hidden away from Obote’s people. He brought his Ugandan people, who were teachers in a school my father owned and who were his intelligence officers. What would have happened if my father had handed over Museveni to Obote?” he posed.
Museveni’s admission
His remarks come after Museveni confessed to the arrest and detention of two Kenyan activists, Nelson Oyoo and Bob Njagi, who have been missing for a period of 38 days.
Speaking on Sunday, November 9, 2025, Museveni said his government arrested the activist working in cahoots with the opposition National Unity Platform leader, Bobi Wine.
According to him, the two Kenyans were experts in riots and were planning to promote riots in the country ahead of the upcoming elections in the east African country.
“Here, we have got very good intelligence. Like, for instance, the two Kenyans whom we arrested – they were working with Kyagulanyi’s group. We monitored them and found out they were experts in riots,” he said.