By Tensions flared in Kampala on Monday after National Unity Platform (NUP) deputy spokesperson Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro was seized by plainclothes operatives outside Kawempe Magistrates Court, in what opposition leaders described as a brazen act of abduction.
Mufumbiro had been at the court alongside Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi and other NUP officials to attend the hearing of the case involving Eddie Mutwe, the party’s head of mobilization. As he exited the court premises, eyewitnesses said, unidentified men violently grabbed him and bundled him into a silver Toyota Noah, registration number UAK 368K, before speeding away.
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On X (formerly Twitter), Ssenyonyi condemned the incident, writing:
“NUP deputy spokesperson Alex Waiswa has been arrested. On his way out, he was violently grabbed and pushed by the military into a Noah, silver in color, and taken to an unknown place. The cowardice and criminality of the regime is baffling.”
NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, also weighed in, saying:
“Just learnt of the violent abduction of our brother, Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro. Museveni and his criminal regime will eventually get what they’re looking for.”
However, police distanced themselves from the operation. Spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke told reporters that the force had “no information regarding the arrest or whereabouts of NUP deputy spokesperson Alex Mufumbiro.”
The incident comes amid a fresh wave of arrests and alleged abductions targeting NUP members. Just last week, Calvin Tasi, popularly known as Bobi Giant, and several others were picked up in Katakwi District under unclear circumstances.
NUP maintains that security agencies routinely use enforced disappearances to weaken the opposition, particularly in the run-up to elections. During the 2021 campaign season, scores of NUP supporters were abducted by armed personnel, many of them held incommunicado for weeks or months. While some were eventually released without charge, others remain in custody or have never been accounted for.
Human rights organizations have long raised alarms about this practice in Uganda. In 2021, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented dozens of cases of abductions by security forces, often involving unmarked vans locally dubbed drones in which victims were taken to unknown detention sites. Victims and families have reported torture, extortion, and denial of legal access.
The government has consistently denied sanctioning such practices, insisting that arrests are conducted legally and only against individuals suspected of committing crimes. Still, the lack of transparency and the recurring nature of these incidents have fueled fears that Uganda is sliding back into a cycle of enforced disappearances as the 2026 elections draw closer.
For NUP, Mufumbiro’s disappearance is not just an isolated incident but part of what they describe as a systematic campaign of intimidation. “We have seen this movie before. Our members are abducted, hidden away, and terrorized. It is meant to silence dissent,” one party official said on condition of anonymity.
The party has demanded the immediate release of Mufumbiro and accountability from security agencies. Civil society actors are also warning that the recurrence of politically linked abductions erodes public trust in state institutions and undermines Uganda’s democratic process.
As of last night, Mufumbiro’s whereabouts remained unknown.
