Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has admitted for the first time that Kenyan activists who had been in hiding for five weeks were under government control.

Last month, witnesses said they saw Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyo being forced into a car by masked men dressed in security uniforms.

The men were arrested after attending a political rally organized by Ugandan opposition leader Bobby Wine.

On Saturday, the two activists were reportedly released, but authorities have denied that they were being held.

In a live interview on Saturday night, Museveni accused the two activists of being "experts in inciting violence" and said they had been "put in a freezer for a few days."

The two Kenyan activists said they were released after "some Kenyan leaders" called to demand their release, but did not reveal who they were.

Njagi and Oyo were given a rousing welcome by their supporters upon their arrival in Nairobi on Saturday.