By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Eddie Mutwe, an opposition activist held by the son of Uganda’s President and the country’s military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has been charged with “aggravated robbery”.
Kainerugaba had, in a social media response last week, confirmed that he was holding Mutwe five days after his sudden disappearance.
Mutwe was brought to court on Monday, as security operatives attempted to shield him from being seen by journalists.
He appeared barefoot and could hardly walk, a BBC report says. His legal team stated that he was electrocuted and that plans were underway to take him to hospital.
Mutwe, who also serves as the chief bodyguard for Uganda’s leading opposition figure, Bobi Wine, went missing on 26 April after being abducted near the capital, Kampala, by armed men, according to his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP).
The lawyer representing Mutwe, whose real name is Edward Sebuufu, said his client had been tortured, telling the country’s Daily Monitor newspaper that he was beaten using “wires of electricity”.
The lawyer, Magellan Kazibwe, added that the opposition activist was in “great pain” and had also suffered the squeezing of his “private parts”.
Rights groups have repeatedly accused the authorities of targeting the opposition, especially in the run-up to elections.
Last week, Kainerugaba posted on social media that Mutwe was in his custody. The army chief said the bodyguard had been shaved and that he planned to castrate him.
“He is in my basement… You are next!” Kainerugaba wrote in a post responding to one from Bobi Wine about Mutwe’s disappearance.
The detention comes as Uganda gears up for elections in 2026, where President Museveni, who has been in power for nearly four decades, is expected to run against Bobi Wine.
