Questions surround whereabouts of Joseph Nyanzi after dramatic December confrontation at his Kyankima home
WAKISO | January 2022
The whereabouts of a man accused of engaging in a same-sex relationship remain unknown weeks after he reportedly escaped from an angry mob that descended on his home in Kyankima, Gayaza.
Joseph Nyanzi disappeared on the night of December 15, 2021, after a crowd surrounded his residence following allegations that he had been found with another man inside the house.
The identity of the second man remains unclear.
The confrontation reportedly began after word spread through the neighbourhood about Nyanzi’s alleged relationship. Within a short time, a crowd had gathered outside the property, banging on the gate and demanding that the occupants come outside.
With tensions escalating, Nyanzi and the unidentified man are believed to have escaped through the rear of the property by climbing over the perimeter wall.
By the time the crowd gained access to the compound, both men were gone.
Nyanzi has not been seen publicly in Kyankima since.
His sudden disappearance has since become a subject of discussion within the surrounding community, with some residents demanding that authorities establish his whereabouts and investigate what transpired at the property that night.
The incident has also attracted concern over the manner in which suspected homosexuality can trigger community violence in Uganda.
At the time of the incident, same-sex sexual activity was criminalized under Uganda’s Penal Code. However, accusations of homosexuality have also historically exposed suspected LGBT people to consequences outside the formal justice system, including rejection, harassment and violence.
For LGBT-rights advocates, what happened in Kyankima raises a different concern: whatever allegations may have been made against Nyanzi, an angry crowd should never become judge, jury and executioner.
Nyanzi apparently understood the danger differently that night.
Rather than remain inside and wait for the crowd to break through the gate, he ran.
Weeks later, his home remains behind him and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Whether any formal complaint or criminal case was subsequently registered against Nyanzi has not been independently established.
But in Kyankima, one question has persisted since the events of December 15:
Where is Joseph Nyanzi?
