VIDEO: Odonga Otto tears up during radio show as he asks for Matembe’s whereabouts

• Matembe’s family says she has gone missing after a raid on her Luzira home.

• Odonga Otto broke down on radio as he demanded answers on her whereabouts.

• Her husband said armed operatives searched the home without explaining why.

• Women activists condemned the raids and called for due process.

Former Aruu County MP Samuel Odonga Otto broke down during a Saturday morning talk show on Next Radio as he demanded answers on the whereabouts of former minister Miria Matembe.

Matembe was reported missing by her family after security operatives raided her home in Luzira earlier this week.

Speaking on June 27, Otto questioned the treatment of the veteran politician and women’s rights activist.

"Where is Matembe? What kind of life is that?... For me, Odonga Otto, if you send me to arrest Miria Matembe I have to spend two hours thinking which part of her body to hold, she is old!" he said, with an angry face.

"You hold the hands, it may remain in your hands! Where is Matembe?! The husband is asking: Where is my wife? Where is Maria Matembe? You people there! It was from Lukwago... to Matembe! Even her age! Even her advanced age! You can't treat people like that (tears drop from his eyes and he picks a hankie to clean himself)! You can't! We are citizens! We are not slaves!"

His remarks followed an appeal by Matembe’s family.

Media personality JK Kazoora, a relative, said the family had failed to trace her. He said they feared security personnel could have picked her up while she was jogging.

“They went to her home in Luzira, but she was not there because she had gone jogging. We suspect they could have met her while jogging and taken her,” Kazoora said.

Matembe’s husband, Nehemiah Matembe, said security operatives searched their home without identifying themselves or giving a reason.

He said the team included uniformed soldiers and plain-clothed operatives. They arrived in a vehicle commonly called a “drone”.

Nehemiah said armed personnel guarded the compound as others searched the house. He said his wife’s phones later went off.

The raid drew criticism from women activists.

Human rights activist Dr Sarah Bireete said security personnel later raided her home. She said they appeared to suspect that she was hiding Matembe.

Bireete accused the operatives of stealing money from her bag and digging a hole in her son’s bedroom.

She urged security agencies to use police summons where they suspect wrongdoing.

Matembe served as Ethics and Integrity minister. She also helped shape Uganda’s 1995 Constitution.

She later became a sharp critic of the government. She has spoken against alleged rights abuses, disappearances and the growing role of the military in politics.

Her relationship with the ruling NRM worsened in 2003 after she opposed the removal of presidential term limits.