By Aggrey Baba
The police today made an attempt to interrogate NUP members Eddie Mutwe and Achileo Kivumbi at Luzira Prison, but the two detainees stood their ground and refused to be questioned, reigniting debate about the state’s handling of opposition supporters and the limits of lawful interrogation under prison regulations.
According to the Kavule-based party leader Robert Kyagulanyi, the attempt was a continuation of what he called a campaign of harassment, saying the comrades had already endured abduction, illegal detention, and torture at the hands of security operatives before being taken to court and remanded months ago.
In his words, and posted on social media in a strongly worded statement, today’s move was nothing short of pouring salt into an open wound.
Court documents (part of which was posted by Kyagulanyi) show that the police were acting under an order issued by the Kawempe Chief Magistrate’s Court on 28th August 2025. The order, signed by Her Worship Agumaasimwe Damalie, granted two senior police officers, D/ASP Kataike Sarah and D/HCM Kutosi Rajab, permission to access and interrogate the detainees, a ruling which was made under Section 122 of the Prisons Act and Regulation 56 of the Prisons Regulations.
The order laid down certain (among others) conditions that the detainees must have access to legal counsel if they wished, that their privacy and dignity must be safeguarded, and that interviews should take place at reasonable times without disrupting prison routines. It also stated that interviews of excessive length would need fresh court approval.
Despite these safeguards on paper, Kyagulanyi maintains that the order was part of a larger design to break the resolve of its supporters. He explained that when officers arrived at Luzira to implement it, the comrades simply said no, arguing that they had already been subjected to unlawful interrogations before.
“These are the same comrades they abducted, illegally detained, and tortured for days while interrogating them about their association with us,” he wrote.
Edward Ssebufu (Eddie Mutwe), has long served as Kyagulanyi’s head of personal security (since way back, before joining politics), becoming a familiar face in the opposition politics, often arrested during protests or electoral campaigns. His co-accused, Achileo Kivumbi, is also a top security leader in NUP circles who has also endured several run-ins with government security.
Both were arrested (abducted as it’s always put by NUP officials), detained, and allegedly tortured before being arraigned in court and remanded to Masaka prison, from where they were shifted to Luzira.
Human rights activists and several opposition politicians have often likened such arrests to a leopard changing its spots, saying the same methods of arbitrary detention keep resurfacing despite promises of reform.
The latest attempt to interrogate the two is another sign that political cases are being pursued outside the normal course of justice, as Kyagulanyi insists that what is being done to Edie Mutwe and Kivumbi is not just about two individuals but about silencing a whole opposition.
He argued that their ordeal is part of a wider pattern of intimidation aimed at frustrating the opposition ahead of the 2026 general elections.
“Thankfully, this morning when the regime’s police goons went to the prison to forcefully interview them, the comrades stood their ground and objected to the impunity,” he said.
Legally, prisoner interviews are provided for in the law, under special orders, provisions which are intended to be exceptional, not routine, but using them against remanded political detainees risks turning the law into a weapon rather than a safeguard, according to observers.
