.jpeg)
Exiled Ugandan lawyer and novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has claimed that missing poet and political activist Sam Mugumya is being secretly held at the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) headquarters in Mbuya.
In a statement posted on X, Kakwenza said he had received reliable information from sources inside the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) confirming Mugumya’s detention.
He added that Mugumya could be undergoing torture, recalling his own experiences at the facility.
“Reliable sources in the UPDF have informed me that Poet and political activist Sam Mugumya is being held in Mbuya at the headquarters of Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI). I have been tortured in that place thrice, so understand what Sam Mugumya is going through at the moment,” Kakwenza wrote.
Mugumya, a longtime ally of opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye, has been a familiar target of state repression. In 2014, he was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo and later jailed for years on accusations of subversion before returning to Uganda in 2022.
His sudden disappearance has stirred fresh concern among opposition supporters and human rights defenders.
The UPDF and CMI have not yet issued a statement on Kakwenza’s allegations. Security agencies have often been accused of abducting government critics and detaining them in safe houses, charges the state continues to deny.
Mugumya’s case has revived debate about shrinking political freedoms in Uganda, where opposition politicians and activists routinely accuse the military and security organs of harassment.
With pressure now mounting, activists are demanding that Mugumya be produced in court if he is facing charges, or released unconditionally if not.