Justice minister says Eddie Mutwe exhibits indicators of abuse at court docket look, and his lawyer says he was tortured day by day.
An opposition activist whom Uganda’s army chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, claimed to have held captive in his basement has appeared in court docket “visibly weak” and displaying indicators of torture, in accordance with the justice minister.
Eddie Mutwe, who acts because the chief bodyguard for Uganda’s main opposition determine, Bobi Wine, went lacking on April 27 after being grabbed close to the capital, Kampala, by armed males, in accordance with Wine’s Nationwide Unity Platform (NUP) social gathering.
Chief of Defence Forces Kainerugaba, longtime President Yoweri Museveni’s eldest baby, stated final week that he had detained Mutwe, writing on X that he had captured him “like a grasshopper” and was “utilizing him as a punching bag”.
Kainerugaba additionally alluded to Mutwe being tortured, saying he had overwhelmed him and shaved his head.
“In the event that they carry on upsetting us, we will self-discipline them much more,” he stated of the opposition.
Going through theft costs
Mutwe was offered in court docket on Monday and remanded into custody on theft costs, his lawyer stated.
In a press release launched late on Monday, Justice Minister Norbert Mao stated Mutwe appeared in court docket “in a visibly weak situation and displaying indicators of getting been tortured”.
“Bringing illegally detained, brutalised and tortured suspects earlier than the courts of regulation is an abuse of judicial processes,” stated Mao, the chief of an opposition social gathering who was appointed justice minister in 2022.
Mao didn’t say who was chargeable for Mutwe’s situation however referred to as on the courts to deal swiftly with the opposition determine’s case.
Mutwe’s lawyer, Magellan Kazibwe, advised reporters outdoors court docket on Monday that his shopper had been tortured day by day and electrocuted whereas being detained.
He’s in my basement. Studying Runyankore. You might be subsequent! https://t.co/8pMgdGCru2
— Muhoozi Kainerugaba (@mkainerugaba) May 1, 2025
Opposition crackdown
The court docket case comes amid an escalating crackdown on the Ugandan opposition as Wine has been making ready to launch a “protest vote” marketing campaign upfront of a basic election in January.
On Friday, Wine – a former singer whose actual identify is Robert Kyagulanyi and who has change into Museveni’s main opponent – stated on X that safety forces had “simply raided and cordoned off our headquarters”.
He additionally condemned the kidnapping of Mutwe, telling the AFP information company that it was “a reminder to the world as to how regulation and order has damaged down in Uganda”.
Kainerugaba, who’s broadly seen as being groomed to succeed his 80-year-old father, often makes incendiary feedback on social media and has written on X that he wished to behead Wine.
The Ugandan authorities has confronted worldwide condemnation over the kidnapping of opposition figures, together with veteran chief Kizza Besigye, who was seized in Kenya last year and forcibly returned to face treason costs.
Museveni, who has dominated since 1986 and plans to hunt re-election in January, has denied allegations of human rights abuses.
However the Uganda Legislation Society stated the kidnapping of Mutwe was not an remoted incident.
As an alternative, it’s “a part of a scientific marketing campaign to silence dissent and crush the aspirations of younger folks craving for freedom”, the group stated in a press release.
The Uganda Human Rights Fee, which is tasked with investigating abuses and monitoring the federal government’s human rights file, stated it issued an order on Friday directing the authorities to launch Mutwe.
