The Opposition is demanding for the whereabouts of former Butambala County Member of Parliament, Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi who was allegedly intercepted by armed security operatives a day after securing bail and has remained unaccounted.
The matter, raised in Parliament by the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi on Tuesday, 14 July 2026 sees the Opposition warning that Uganda could be witnessing a disturbing pattern of enforced disappearances carried out outside established legal procedures.
Ssenyonyi said Kivumbi was granted bail on Thursday, 10 July 2026 while travelling from Butambala to Kampala the following day, he was intercepted by security personnel and forced into a vehicle popularly known as a "drone."
Since then, Ssenyonyi said, neither Kivumbi's family nor fellow Opposition leaders have been able to establish his whereabouts.
"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 said.
Ssenyonyi argued that Article 23 of the Constitution provides a clear legal framework governing arrests and detention, requiring that anyone arrested be informed immediately of the reasons for their arrest, detained only in a place authorised by law, and produced before a competent court within 48 hours if not earlier released.
Questioning reports that Kivumbi may have been targeted over remarks made during a public address after his release, Ssenyonyi insisted that only courts, not security agencies, have the authority to determine criminal liability.
"If someone believes Hon. Kivumbi committed an offence through his speech, who determines that? It is the courts of law, not security agencies," Ssenyonyi added.
Ssenyonyi linked Kivumbi's alleged disappearance to previous incidents involving Opposition politicians citing the rearrests of former MPs Muhammad Ssegirinya and Allan Ssewanyana outside Kigo Prison in 2021 after they had secured bail, as well as the 2024 court precinct arrest of former Busiki County MP Paul Akamba.
The Attorney General, Hon. Sam Mayanja said that the notion of a "new normal" had no place in Uganda's legal framework.
"As far as I know, this Parliament and this country remain under the dispensation of constitutionalism," Mayanja said citing Article 23, which guarantees the rights of arrested persons, including detention only in places authorised by law and immediate access to information about the reasons for arrest and the right to legal counsel.
Mayanja assured legislators that government will return with a detailed report.
"Tomorrow is not far. We shall return before Parliament with all the facts and ensure that the Constitution, which we all swore to protect, is indeed protected," he added.
