Parliament Demands Kivumbi Whereabouts From Government

A fresh storm erupted in Parliament after the Opposition demanded answers over the whereabouts of former Butambala County MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, who was allegedly picked up by armed security operatives shortly after being released on bail.

The matter, raised by the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Joel Ssenyonyi, reignited debate over constitutional safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention, emphasisizing that the country was witnessing a troubling pattern of enforced disappearances outside established legal procedures.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, Ssenyonyi told the House that Kivumbi had been granted bail by court on Thursday, July 10, 2026, where he had stood surety in a criminal matter. 

According to the LOP, Kivumbi was travelling back to Kampala from Butambala the following day when he was intercepted by police officers backed by military personnel and reportedly forced into a white Toyota Hiace, commonly referred to as a “drone.”

Since then, Ssenyonyi said, neither Kivumbi’s family nor fellow Opposition leaders had been able to establish his whereabouts. “Mr Speaker, from Friday up to today, Tuesday, his family and we, his colleagues, have been looking for him. We do not know where Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi is,” Ssenyonyi told Parliament.

He challenged Government to answer two fundamental questions. “First, where is Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi? Second, is this now the new normal of how Government conducts arrests?”

Ssenyonyi argued that the Constitution provides a clear legal framework governing arrests and detention, making any deviation a direct challenge to the rule of law. 

Ssenyonyi questioned reports suggesting Kivumbi had been targeted because of remarks allegedly made during a public address after his release.”If someone believes Hon. Kivumbi committed an offence through his speech, who determines that? It is the courts of law—not security agencies,” he argued.


Ssenyonyi linked Kivumbi’s disappearance to several previous incidents involving Opposition politicians who were reportedly rearrested immediately after obtaining court-ordered release.

He recalled the September 2021 arrests of former MPs Muhammad Ssegirinya and Allan Ssewanyana, who were reportedly rearrested outside Kigo Prison moments after being granted bail and the June 2024 arrest of former Busiki County MP Paul Akamba, who was allegedly picked up by armed operatives within court premises shortly after securing bail.

According to Ssenyonyi, such incidents raise broader concerns about respect for judicial decisions and the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers.”Have we now as a country departed from what the law clearly stipulates?” he asked.

Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, who presided over the sitting, directed the concerns to Deputy Government Chief Whip Dr Walter Crispus Kiyonga, observing that the matter extended beyond the Attorney General’s legal advisory role.



However, Ssenyonyi insisted that while Government might require time to establish Kivumbi’s whereabouts, Parliament still deserved an immediate policy clarification on whether such operations reflected an officially sanctioned approach to arrests.



Following Ssenyonyi’s insistence, Deputy Speaker Tayebwa invited Attorney General Sam Mayanja addressed the House. Mayanja rejected suggestions that Uganda had adopted either a “new normal” or “old normal” regarding arrests. 

He maintained that Uganda remains governed by constitutionalism. “As far as I know, this Parliament and this country remain under the dispensation of constitutionalism.”