Justice Minister slams condition of Bobi Wine's bodyguard

An opposition activist whom Uganda’s military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, claimed to have held captive in his basement appeared in court ‘visibly weak’ and showing signs of torture, according to the Justice Minister. Al Jazeera reports that Eddie Mutwe, who acts as the chief bodyguard for Uganda’s leading opposition figure, Bobi Wine, went missing on 27 April after being grabbed near the capital, Kampala, by armed men, according to Wine’s National Unity Platform party. Chief of Defence Forces Kainerugaba, longtime President Yoweri Museveni’s eldest child, said last week that he had detained Mutwe, writing on X that he had captured him ‘like a grasshopper’ and was ‘using him as a punching bag’. Kainerugaba also alluded to Mutwe being tortured, saying he had beaten him and shaved his head. Mutwe was presented in court last Monday and remanded into custody on robbery charges, his lawyer said. In a statement, Justice Minister Norbert Mao said Mutwe appeared in court ‘in a visibly weak condition and showing signs of having been tortured’. ‘Bringing illegally detained, brutalised and tortured suspects before the courts of law is an abuse of judicial processes,’ said Mao, the leader of an opposition party who was appointed Justice Minister in 2022. Mao did not say who was responsible for Mutwe’s condition but called on the courts to deal swiftly with the opposition figure’s case. Mutwe’s lawyer, Magellan Kazibwe, told reporters outside court that his client had been tortured daily and electrocuted while being detained. Bottom of Form The court case comes amid an escalating crackdown on the Ugandan opposition as Wine has been preparing to launch a ‘protest vote’ campaign in advance of a general election in January.

See also A Matter of Justice column below