Former Butambala County Member of Parliament Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi has been remanded to Kitalya Prison after being charged with inciting violence and managing an unlawful society. This brings an end to two weeks of uncertainty over his whereabouts.
Kivumbi appeared before the Butambala Chief Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where he denied the charges. The court remanded him until August 11, 2026, when the state is expected to respond to his bail application.
His legal team said the former legislator was visibly weak and in urgent need of medical attention following the torture during his detention.
“Despite being subjected to incredible torture and in need of urgent medical attention, Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi was this afternoon charged with inciting violence and managing an unlawful society, and remanded till the 11th of August when the matter will come up again for the state to respond to his bail application,” his lawyers said after the court session.
They added that Kivumbi was later transferred to Kitalya Prison.
The court appearance followed Kivumbi’s dramatic reappearance on Wednesday morning at Nateete Police Station after spending more than two weeks incommunicado.
His lawyers, family members and leaders of the National Unity Platform (NUP) rushed to the police station upon learning that he had resurfaced, only to find that he had already been whisked away under heavy security escort to Butambala before they could meet him.
Lawyer Samuel Muyizzi Mulindwa said Kivumbi was removed from Nateete Police Station before his legal team could gain access to him.
Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi and NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya also arrived at the station hoping to meet him but found he had already been driven away.
Kivumbi’s brother, Hajji Musa Lutaaya, said the family was denied access to him while he was briefly held at the station.
“He has been put in a police vehicle, and right now they are headed to Butambala. I’m moving behind them,” Lutaaya told journalists as the convoy left Nateete.
Kivumbi had been missing since July 9, 2026, when unidentified security operatives reportedly re-arrested him along the Masaka Kampala highway, barely a day after the International Crimes Division of the High Court granted him bail on terrorism related charges.
His disappearance triggered widespread concern from his family, lawyers, opposition leaders and human rights activists, who repeatedly petitioned the High Court seeking orders compelling security agencies to produce him.
Throughout the period, both the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces maintained that they were not holding him in custody.
Last week, Senior Presidential Assistant Gen. Proscovia Nalweyiso told journalists that Kivumbi was being detained over allegations separate from the terrorism case for which he had secured bail, although she did not disclose the nature of the alleged offences.
His reappearance also came shortly after High Court judge Collins Acellam directed the Chief of Defence Forces, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General to conclude investigations into his disappearance and report back to court. In response, government lawyers maintained that the state did not know where Kivumbi was.
The fresh charges now open a new legal battle for the former legislator, whose lawyers say they will continue pursuing his release while demanding an independent investigation into allegations that he was tortured during his undisclosed detention.
Kivumbi is expected to return to court on August 11, when the prosecution will respond to his application for bail as proceedings in the new case continue.
