By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and the military chief, has confirmed that he is holding an opposition activist who has been missing for five days.
In a social media response, he said the missing Eddie Mutwe is in his basement, threatening to unleash violence against him, after Mutwe’s party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), said he was abducted by armed men last week.
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, the NUP has said.
The police have said Mutwe, whose real name is Edward Ssebuufu, was not in their custody, and nothing was heard about his whereabouts until the President’s son’s social media post.
In a series of posts on X late on Thursday, Kainerugaba posted what appeared to be a photograph of Mutwe, who was shirtless, and said he had captured him “like a grasshopper”.
“He is in my basement … You are next!” Kainerugaba wrote in a post responding to one from Bobi Wine about Mutwe’s disappearance.
“I still have to castrate him,” he said a few hours later, adding that he would release Mutwe only when his father, Museveni, gives him instruction to that effect.
The Uganda Human Rights Commission on Thursday told Kainerugaba to release Mutwe, who they confirmed had been unlawfully detained since 26 April.
The government agency said the military chief would be “liable for contempt under… the Constitution.”
Uganda’s opposition has accused Museveni of accelerating Kainerugaba’s promotions in his military career to prepare him to eventually succeed to the presidency.
Kainerugaba is known for frequently making inflammatory remarks on social media. In 2022, he threatened to invade neighbouring Kenya, and in January he said he would behead Bobi Wine.
Museveni, 80, has ruled Uganda since 1986 and is expected to stand for re-election next January.
His opponents and human rights activists have regularly accused his government of wide-ranging abuses, including abductions and illegal detentions.
“Eddie Mutwe’s ordeal is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic campaign to silence dissent and crush the aspirations of young people yearning for freedom,” the Uganda Law Society said in a statement.
