We don’t have Muwanga Kivumbi – UPDF tells court

• The UPDF denies abducting or holding Muwanga Kivumbi.

• Lt Col Edgar Musasizi says checks at all gazetted military detention centres found no trace of him.

• The army wants the habeas corpus application dismissed with costs.

• Police have also declined to disclose Kivumbi’s whereabouts, leaving his family without answers.

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has denied abducting or detaining opposition politician Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, whose whereabouts remain unknown 19 days after security personnel reportedly seized him.

The army made the denial in an affidavit filed before the High Court Civil Division in Kampala in response to Kivumbi’s application for a writ of habeas corpus.

The application seeks to compel the Chief of Defence Forces, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General to produce Kivumbi before court.

Lt Col Edgar Musasizi, the UPDF director of civil affairs at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, swore the affidavit on behalf of the Chief of Defence Forces, acknowledging that the High Court had granted Kivumbi bail but denying that UPDF officers later seized him.

“I categorically deny that officers of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces abducted or unlawfully detained the applicant as alleged,” Musasizi said.

He argued that the affidavit supporting Kivumbi’s application had not shown how those who reportedly seized him were identified as UPDF officers.

Musasizi said no documents, testimony or other material had been presented to connect the army or the Chief of Defence Forces to the incident.

He also rejected claims that Kivumbi was being held incommunicado by the military.

“I have personally cross-checked with all gazetted detention facilities under the control of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and I confirm that the applicant is not and has never been in the custody of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces at any material time,” he said.

Musasizi argued that a court should issue a habeas corpus order only where there is credible evidence that the respondent is holding the missing person unlawfully.

He asked court to dismiss Kivumbi’s application with costs, describing it as misconceived, without merit and an abuse of the court process.

Kivumbi reportedly disappeared on July 10, 2026, shortly after the International Crimes Division of the High Court granted him bail. He had spent about six months on remand over terrorism-related charges.

Witnesses said security personnel intercepted him near Mpigi Police Station while he was travelling to Kampala. Authorities have not publicly identified the agency responsible or disclosed where he is being held. 

The High Court previously ordered security agencies to investigate Kivumbi’s whereabouts and file an affidavit explaining the outcome within seven days. The court fixed July 29 for the case to return.

Kivumbi’s family and lawyers maintain that armed security personnel seized him and have denied them access to him.

Human Rights Watch has also called on the Ugandan authorities to reveal his location, saying he had not been heard from since his reported seizure. 

Earlier on Monday, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke declined to give a substantive response when journalists asked about Kivumbi’s whereabouts.

Rusoke said he would address the matter when the time was right.

The police and army denials leave Kivumbi’s location unknown as his family marks the 19th day without contact with him.