The activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, had vanished last month after attending a political event where they publicly supported opposition leader, Bobi Wine.
For the first time since their disappearance, Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has admitted that two Kenyan activists who went missing in Uganda for five weeks were indeed arrested by security operatives.
The activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, had vanished last month after attending a political event where they publicly supported opposition leader, Bobi Wine.
Witnesses said masked uniformed men forced them into a vehicle shortly after the gathering, sparking outrage across the region, BBC reports.
In a live interview on Saturday evening, Museveni referred to the two men as "experts in riots" who had then been put "in the fridge for some days".
Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for nearly four decades and is seeking another term, accused foreign elements of inciting unrest in East Africa. He warned: "The ones who are doing that game here in Uganda will end up badly".
Without naming them directly, he said the two activists were freed after he received calls from "some Kenyan leaders" appealing for their release.
Mr Njagi and Mr Oyoo were later received by jubilant supporters at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. "Thirty-eight days of abduction was not easy. We didn't think that we were going to come out alive because we were being abducted by the military," Mr Njagi said.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, confirmed their release followed "sustained diplomatic engagement between Kenya and Uganda".
Vocal Africa, the organisation that had championed their release, stated: "Let this moment signal an important shift towards upholding the human rights of East Africans anywhere in East African Community".
The group, alongside the Law Society of Kenya and Amnesty International, issued a joint statement thanking both governments and "all active citizens" for their efforts.
Bobi Wine, also known as Robert Kyagulanyi, accused the Ugandan authorities of targeting the Kenyans because of their association with him. "If they committed any offence, why were they not produced before court and formally charged?" he asked in a post on X.
The case adds to growing concern over a trend of abductions and cross-border detentions of activists and opposition supporters across East Africa.