“A missing opposition activist from Uganda has been charged and placed under remand,” his attorney claims

Opposition leader Bobi Wine and his attorney stated Monday that a missing Ugandan opposition activist, whom the president’s son said he was keeping in his basement, was brought limping to court, charged with robbery, and ordered to prison.

According to his party, the National Unity Platform, Eddie Mutwe, whose true name is Edward Ssebuufu and who serves as Bobi Wine’s primary bodyguard, vanished on April 27 after being abducted by armed men near the capital Kampala.

Uganda’s military chief and son of longtime President Yoweri Museveni, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, claimed to have abducted Mutwe “like a grasshopper,” was detaining him in his basement, and threatened to use violence against him in a series of posts on X last week.

Most people believe that Kainerugaba is being prepared to take over for his 80-year-old father, who has been the ruler of Uganda since 1986.

Magellan Kazibwe, Mutwe’s attorney, stated in a video published by the Daily Monitor, Uganda’s biggest independent daily, that his client was charged with simple and aggravated robbery after being brought before a chief magistrate’s court in Masaka, which is 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Kampala.

“He (Mutwe) has told me and my colleague that he was tortured every day … they were electrocuting him,” Kazibwe stated.

“He is in great pain, he has not been receiving medication, he has not accessed any doctor.”

When contacted for comment, Rusoke Kituuma, the police spokeswoman, and Jacqueline Okui, the spokesperson for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, did not answer. Requests for comment regarding reports of Kainerugaba’s detention of Mutwe last week were not answered by the authorities.

Local station NTV Uganda uploaded a video to the X platform that purportedly showed Eddie Mutwe limping and being escorted to court by two individuals.

Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, posted on X that he was charged and then remanded to prison.

A government agency, the Uganda Human Rights Commission, ordered Kainerugaba to free Mutwe on Friday, claiming that he had been wrongfully jailed.

It is anticipated that Museveni would run for reelection in January of next year. His regime has frequently been accused of widespread violations, like as kidnappings and wrongful detentions, by his opponents and human rights advocates. Authorities refute the charges.