An opposition activist whom Uganda’s military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, claimed to have held captive in his basement has appeared in court “visibly weak” and showing signs of torture, according to the justice minister.
Eddie Mutwe, who acts as the chief bodyguard for Uganda’s leading opposition figure, Bobi Wine, went missing on April 27 after being grabbed near the capital, Kampala, by armed men, according to Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
Chief of Defence Forces Kainerugaba, longtime President Yoweri Museveni’s eldest child, said last week that he had detained Mutwe, writing on X that he had captured him “like a grasshopper” and was “using him as a punching bag”.
Kainerugaba also alluded to Mutwe being tortured, saying he had beaten him and shaved his head.
“If they keep on provoking us, we shall discipline them even more,” he said of the opposition.
Facing robbery charges
Mutwe was presented in court on Monday and remanded into custody on robbery charges, his lawyer said.
In a statement released late on Monday, Justice Minister Norbert Mao said Mutwe appeared in court “in a visibly weak condition and showing signs of having been tortured”.
“Bringing illegally detained, brutalised and tortured suspects before the courts of law is an abuse of judicial processes,” said Mao, the leader of an opposition party who was appointed justice minister in 2022.
Mao did not say who was responsible for Mutwe’s condition but called on the courts to deal swiftly with the opposition figure’s case.
Mutwe’s lawyer, Magellan Kazibwe, told reporters outside court on Monday that his client had been tortured daily and electrocuted while being detained.
He is in my basement. Learning Runyankore. You are next! https://t.co/8pMgdGCru2
— Muhoozi Kainerugaba (@mkainerugaba) May 1, 2025
Opposition crackdown
The court case comes amid an escalating crackdown on the Ugandan opposition as Wine has been preparing to launch a “protest vote” campaign in advance of a general election in January.
On Friday, Wine – a former singer whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi and who has become Museveni’s leading opponent – said on X that security forces had “just raided and cordoned off our headquarters”.
He also condemned the abduction of Mutwe, telling the AFP news agency that it was “a reminder to the world as to how law and order has broken down in Uganda”.
Kainerugaba, who is widely viewed as being groomed to succeed his 80-year-old father, frequently makes incendiary comments on social media and has written on X that he wanted to behead Wine.
The Ugandan government has faced international condemnation over the abduction of opposition figures, including veteran leader Kizza Besigye, who was seized in Kenya last year and forcibly returned to face treason charges.
Museveni, who has ruled since 1986 and plans to seek re-election in January, has denied allegations of human rights abuses.
But the Uganda Law Society said the abduction of Mutwe was not an isolated incident.
Instead, it is “part of a systematic campaign to silence dissent and crush the aspirations of young people yearning for freedom”, the group said in a statement.
The Uganda Human Rights Commission, which is tasked with investigating abuses and monitoring the government’s human rights record, said it issued an order on Friday directing the authorities to release Mutwe.
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