Ugandan opposition member held by president’s son shows signs of torture

Nairobi — A Ugandan opposition activist, who President Yoweri Museveni’s son said he had been holding captive in his basement, appears to have been tortured, the East African nation’s justice minister said.

Chief of defence forces Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is Museveni’s eldest child, said last week that he had detained Eddie Mutwe, the chief bodyguard for opposition leader Bobi Wine.

Kainerugaba wrote on X that he had captured Mutwe “like a grasshopper” and was “using him as a punching bag”.

Mutwe was presented in court on Monday and remanded to 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.

He did not say who was responsible for Mutwe's condition but called on the courts to deal swiftly with the opposition figure’s case.

The National Unity Platform (NUP) — the party to which Mutwe belongs — said he went missing after being grabbed by uniformed armed men near the capital, Kampala, on April 27. On Thursday, the Uganda Human Rights Commission, a government body, ordered Kainerugaba to release him.

Reuters contacted a spokesperson for the defence forces seeking comment from Kainerugaba. He did not respond.

Mutwe’s lawyer, Magellan Kazibwe, told reporters outside court on Monday that his client had been tortured daily and electrocuted while being detained.

Kainerugaba, who is widely viewed as being groomed to succeed his 80-year-old father, frequently makes incendiary comments on social media. In January, he wrote on X that he wanted to behead NUP leader Wine, Uganda’s most prominent opposition leader.

Museveni has led Uganda since 1986 and is expected to stand for re-election in January.

His opponents and human rights activists have regularly accused the government of wide-ranging abuses, including abductions and illegal detentions, allegations Museveni denies.

Reuters