Ms Edinansi Katungwesi, the mother of missing political activist and People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) mobiliser Sam Mugumya, has formally written to the Uganda Law Society (ULS) seeking its direct intervention to locate her son.
In an August 3 letter addressed to ULS President Isaac Ssemakadde through Vice President Anthony Asiimwe, Ms Katungwesi pleaded for help following months of fruitless searches and unanswered reports to the police.
‘My son Sam Mugumya was abducted on August 26, 2025, in Mbarara… from that day I had never seen him until recently when I saw a video and photo of him struggling to get up, which gave me hope that he is still alive,’ the letter reads in part.
‘When he disappeared, I reported the case to the police, but I have never received assistance to date. I do not know where he is, and I have never heard from him. That is why I am pleading with the Uganda Law Society to help me find him,’ she added.
Ms Katungwesi handed over the petition to Mr Asiimwe on Monday, August 3, during a visit by a ULS delegation to her home in Rukungiri District.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Asiimwe assured the family that the law society would launch formal inquiries with relevant government bodies, security agencies, and the courts to establish Mugumya’s whereabouts and legal status.
‘His mother has reached out to us to help find where Sam Mugumya is, and as ULS, we will do our best to help Mama find her son-dead or alive,’ Asiimwe said.
He further urged security forces to uphold constitutional rights: ‘We call upon whoever is responsible to respect human dignity and the rule of law, and to release Sam Mugumya. If he committed any offences, let him be produced in court because he has rights. Keeping him in this condition is unacceptable.’
A history of detention
Mr Mugumya, a former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) mobiliser, was reportedly abducted on August 26, 2025, while having breakfast at NIM Hotel in Nyamitanga, Mbarara City. Witnesses reported that armed men, believed to be state security operatives, forced him into a unmarked van (commonly known as a “drone”) and sped off.
Despite habeas corpus applications filed by his family, authorities have neither produced him in court nor formally acknowledged holding him in custody.
His disappearance occurred less than three years after his return from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he spent over eight years in detention following a 2014 arrest on allegations of plotting a rebellion. He was released in October 2022 without ever being formally tried.
Leaked video and torture allegations
Concerns over Mugumya’s safety intensified on July 31 when National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) depicting an individual resembling the missing activist.
‘Here is a leaked video of comrade Sam Mugumya, who remains missing since his abduction in August last year. The video was apparently leaked from an unknown detention facility where he is held incommunicado,’ Kyagulanyi stated.
‘He appears crippled, unable to walk without a walking frame-evidence of the torture he has suffered. Meanwhile, the regime continues to deny knowledge of his whereabouts,’ he added.
President Museveni reacts
Following the video’s release and a subsequent demand for action sent by ULS President Ssemakadde to Security Minister Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi, President Yoweri Museveni issued a statement addressing torture allegations within security ranks.
Writing in response to comments by journalist Andrew Mwenda, President Museveni denied ever authorizing the abuse of political opponents, placing the blame on rogue elements within the security forces.
‘Coming back to torture, let alone maiming, these are immoral, counter-revolutionary, not strategic, and not necessary for us as freedom fighters,’ Museveni wrote in his Monday statement. ‘In the last 56 years I have been fighting, I have never tortured, or ordered anybody to torture, an opponent.’
He warned that security personnel must abide by the law while carrying out their duties. ‘The UPDF and other security forces, in fighting impunity, should not commit their own crimes, such as torture or extra-judicial killings. Those mistakes are neither morally nor ideologically correct.’
Demands for action
Despite the President’s assurances, human rights defenders and political figures are demanding concrete results.
‘I condemn the way security operatives abduct citizens and hold them in undisclosed locations. I urge the government, through the ULS, to ensure Sam Mugumya is produced immediately,’ said Mr Mugyeni Gashom, the PFF Electoral Commissioner for Rukungiri District.
Mr Asiimwe added that the ULS will continue to push for the release or trial of all political detainees currently being held incommunicado across the country