By Ben Musanje
The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has demanded the immediate release of National Unity Platform (NUP) Deputy President for Buganda Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi after he was reportedly arrested by security personnel in Mpigi District on Friday, less than 24 hours after the High Court granted him bail in a terrorism case.
The Society described the incident as deeply alarming, saying it had received reports directly from Kivumbi’s family that the former Butambala County Member of Parliament had been taken by security operatives and that his whereabouts remained unknown by Friday evening.
Police and other security agencies had not issued any official statement confirming his arrest or disclosing where he had been taken.
The arrest came a day after Justice Susan Okalany of the International Crimes Division released Kivumbi on a cash bail of Shs10 million, ruling that the prosecution had failed to justify his continued detention while investigations into the case were ongoing.
Kivumbi had spent nearly six months on remand after being charged with terrorism alongside 22 others over violence that erupted in Butambala District during the January 2026 general elections.
According to NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, Kivumbi was intercepted at a security roadblock in Mpigi while travelling from Butambala and driven away to an undisclosed location.
Eyewitnesses said Kivumbi was travelling in a white Toyota Land Cruiser when heavily armed men emerged from a numberless van, commonly referred to as a “drone,” ordered him out of his vehicle and forced him into the waiting van, which then sped away.
The incident occurred just hours after Kivumbi publicly vowed to resume his political activities following his release from prison.
Addressing supporters who welcomed him home on Thursday night, Kivumbi said he would take only two days to rest before returning to his duties as NUP deputy president for Buganda, where he intended to intensify the party’s mobilization campaign against the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
He also reiterated earlier claims that he had been the intended target of a security operation at his home on the night of the January elections, alleging that 10 people were killed during the operation. The government has maintained that seven people died in the election-related violence in Butambala.
In a statement issued Friday evening, ULS Vice President Anthony Asiimwe condemned Kivumbi’s reported arrest, saying it came against the backdrop of what the Society described as a growing pattern of abductions, enforced disappearances, politically motivated prosecutions and military-driven repression.
Asiimwe argued that Kivumbi’s reported disappearance occurred barely 24 hours after the High Court restored his liberty by granting him bail, adding that no security agency had formally communicated the legal basis for his arrest or detention.
The ULS further linked the incident to President Yoweri Museveni’s July 4 address, arguing that the President’s remarks appeared to endorse ongoing abductions, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial searches, torture, prolonged pre-trial detention and politically motivated prosecutions.
According to the Society, abductions and enforced disappearances remain offences under Ugandan and international law and cannot be legitimized by public statements.
It also cited Article 23 of the Constitution, arguing that every arrested person has the right to be informed of the reasons for arrest and to be produced before a competent court within 48 hours.
Asiimwe further maintained that the reported targeting of a senior leader of a registered political party shortly after his release on bail raised concerns about multiparty democracy and judicial independence as guaranteed under Articles 69 and 128 of the Constitution.
The ULS called on the Uganda Police Force, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and other security agencies to immediately disclose Kivumbi’s whereabouts, explain the legal basis for his detention and produce him before a competent court with access to lawyers of his choice and his family.
It also called for an end to what it described as the practice of abductions and enforced disappearances and demanded accountability for those responsible.
The Society appealed to the Uganda Human Rights Commission, the Speaker of Parliament and the international community to intervene to secure Kivumbi’s safety, arguing that the rule of law could not survive where political leaders and other citizens could allegedly be taken from public roads without accountability.
In addition, the ULS announced plans to lead a public petition at the Judiciary headquarters on July 17, calling on relatives, friends and supporters of political prisoners to join what it termed a peaceful engagement with the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice and Principal Judge.
According to the Society, the petition seeks a public response from the Judiciary to President Museveni’s July 4 address and its position on what the ULS described as the use of courts to legitimise repression.
By Friday evening, neither the Uganda Police Force nor the UPDF had publicly commented on Kivumbi’s reported arrest or responded to the Uganda Law Society’s demands. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
