Court Gives State Seven Days to Account for Kivumbi's Whereabouts

What the report says

Nile Post reports that the High Court in Kampala has given the government seven days to report on the whereabouts of former Butambala County MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi before deciding whether to issue a writ of habeas corpus. In a ruling delivered Tuesday, Justice Collins Acellam directed the Chief of Defence Forces, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General to file an affidavit detailing the outcome of inquiries into where Kivumbi is. The matter was set for mention and hearing on July 29, 2026.

According to the report, Kivumbi’s lawyers asked the court to compel security agencies to produce him, release him unconditionally and pay costs. The application followed claims that he was taken on July 10 at a police checkpoint in Mpigi by unidentified military operatives soon after he had been granted bail by the High Court. An affidavit by his brother, Hajj Musa Lutaaya, alleged that police officers helped force Kivumbi into another vehicle, which then left for an unknown destination. Lutaaya also claimed Kivumbi was later taken to Bombo Military Hospital in critical condition after alleged torture.

The Uganda Police Force denied holding Kivumbi. Nile Post cited an affidavit by Assistant Commissioner of Police Godwin Tumugumye saying police had no record of Kivumbi’s arrest or detention and that he was not in any police facility, despite his vehicle having been stopped at a checkpoint.

Justice Acellam said habeas corpus protects personal liberty by requiring the authority holding a person to bring them before court. However, he found that issuing the writ immediately would be ineffective unless the court first knows who, if anyone, is detaining Kivumbi. The application therefore remains pending until the state files its report.