Police have arrested Butambala County legislator Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi following violent incidents that occured in the district after the 2026 general elections.
The arrest was confirmed by Lydia Tushabe, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Katonga region.
Lydia Tushabe said that Kivumbi is being held in custody and will be produced in court.
According to police, the arrest is linked to recent episodes of political violence in Butambala, where security forces clashed with civilians in the aftermath of the vote which led to death of ten people.
“The Uganda Police Force would like to confirm the arrest of the Butambala County legislator, Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi. He is currently in police custody and will be arraigned before court in due course,” said Lydia Tushabe, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Katonga region.
She added, “His arrest is in connection with recent incidents of political violence in Butambala.”
Security agencies maintain that the violence was triggered by an attempted attack on a police station and a vote-tallying centre by groups allegedly armed with pangas, shortly after Kivumbi lost the parliamentary race.
President Yoweri Museveni while addressing the matter after the elections in Rwakitura, said intelligence reports had indicated that opposition members had planned to cause chaos in areas where their candidates lost. He singled out Butambala as one of the flashpoints.
“In Butambala, Kivumbi was defeated, and the plan everywhere was that where NUP lost, gangs armed with pangas would attack polling stations,” Museveni said.
He added,“This was attempted when he was defeated, and seven of them were shot dead.”
Museveni defended the actions of the security forces, arguing that they acted to protect key installations and prevent a breakdown of law and order.
Kivumbi, however, while appearing on several media rejected the government’s account and insisted that no attack on a police station took place. He said the victims were his supporters who had gathered peacefully at his home as they waited for election results.
“They were killed inside my house,” Kivumbi earlier said in response to the allegations.
He added, “There is no police station in this village. Is my home now a police station?”
He accused security personnel of storming his residence at night and opening fire without justification, describing the deaths as unlawful killings. Kivumbi has demanded an independent investigation into the incident and accountability for those responsible.
While authorities have put the death toll at seven, Kivumbi and some local leaders say the number could be higher, claiming that up to ten people from his campaign team were killed during the operation.
Police leaders have defended the operation, saying their officers acted on intelligence that the group intended to launch coordinated attacks and that some suspects have admitted being mobilised for violence. Investigations, they say, are still ongoing.
