Gov’t Appeals for More Time Over Ex-MP Kivumbi’s Whereabouts

Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oboth-Oboth has directed the Attorney General, Sam Mayanja, the Leader of the Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, and the Leader of Government Business to urgently engage over the whereabouts of former Butambala County MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi.

The directive was issued during the Wednesday 15 July 2026 plenary sitting after Ssenyonyi sought an update on Government’s promised report regarding Kivumbi’s whereabouts, six days after the former legislator was reportedly intercepted in Mpigi while travelling to Kampala. Seeking to break the impasse, Speaker Oboth-Oboth called for immediate engagement between both sides of the House to facilitate access to the missing politician by his family.

“This House advises that the two leaders on this side, together with the Leader of Government Business, harmonise and make sure that the families access Honourable Kivumbi,” the Speaker directed.

The ruling followed growing concern among legislators that the matter had evolved beyond an individual case into a broader question about respect for the rule of law and the constitutional protection of personal liberty.

Renewing his demand for Government to produce Kivumbi or explain his whereabouts, Ssenyonyi told Parliament that it had been six days since the former MP was allegedly intercepted by security operatives.

He argued that Kivumbi’s disappearance was not an isolated incident, citing the reported disappearance of Christopher Godin, popularly known as King Zali, who was allegedly picked up in Kamwokya on 21 April 2026, and Sam Mugumya, whose whereabouts, he said, have remained unknown for nearly two years.

“We would like Government to tell us where these people are, but also to follow the law; that is our interest,” Ssenyonyi said. “If somebody is suspected to have committed an offence, produce them before court so that the right thing gets to be done.” He appealed for Kivumbi’s immediate family, lawyers and doctors to be granted access to him pending the Government’s promised report. “Can the family of Honourable Muwanga Kivumbi, his lawyers and doctors get access to him today? That is what the law requires.” 

The Opposition maintains that constitutional safeguards cannot be suspended while Government verifies the facts surrounding a person’s detention. Responding on behalf of Government, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business Dr. Crispus Kiyonga acknowledged the seriousness of the matter but said consultations with security agencies were still ongoing. 

“I did undertake that today, given the opportunity, I would respond,” Kiyonga told Parliament. “When I left here, I got in touch with our security chiefs, the heads of security agencies, and they have requested me to give them a little more time so that they can facilitate me with an appropriate report to give to Parliament.”

However, Ssenyonyi questioned why Government required additional time while Kivumbi allegedly remained inaccessible. “What the Leader of Government Business is telling us is that there is confirmation that security chiefs are holding him,” he argued. “So wherever he is, can his family, lawyers and doctors have access to him in fulfilment of the law as we wait for that report? That is a command of the law, not a difficult request.”

The debate took a more serious turn when Kawempe North MP Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola, a lawyer, suggested that delays in presenting detainees before court often coincide with allegations of torture and incommunicado detention. “As a legal practitioner, I normally represent those whose rights are being violated,” Nalukoola said.

“They delay because, in most cases, those people who are held incommunicado are subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. They are tortured, so they need time, in most cases, to recover. That is why they delay.” The debate places renewed focus on the constitutional framework governing arrest and detention in Uganda.

Article 23 of the Constitution of Uganda guarantees every person’s right to personal liberty and requires that anyone arrested be informed immediately of the reasons for the arrest, detained only in a legally authorised place and produced before a competent court within 48 hours, unless earlier released.

The Constitution also guarantees detainees access to legal counsel and protects individuals from arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Equally significant, Article 24 prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, while Article 44(a) makes freedom from torture a non-derogable right that cannot be suspended under any circumstances.