By Sir Dean Lubowa Saava
TV10 Gano Mazima
Investigative Desk
Kampala-National Unity Platform Deputy President for Buganda, Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, was back in the hands of security forces Friday, less than 24 hours after a High Court granted him bail and hours after he promised to launch a fresh offensive against the ruling NRM.
TV10 Gano Mazima has established that Kivumbi was intercepted at a security roadblock in Mpigi District while driving from Butambala. He was forced into a “drone” — a numberless van — and driven to an unknown location.
THE RE-ARREST
According to NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, Kivumbi was “abducted from a roadblock in Mpigi” on Friday afternoon. Eyewitnesses told TV10 that heavily-armed military operatives jumped out of a waiting van as Kivumbi’s white Land Cruiser approached the Mpigi checkpoint.
He was dragged out and bundled into the vehicle, which sped off. Police and UPDF had not commented by press time, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
FROM COURT TO CUSTODY IN ONE DAY
The arrest came just a day after the International Crimes Division of the High Court released Kivumbi on a cash bail of Shs10 million.
Justice Susan Okalany ruled that the state had failed to justify his continued detention while investigations into terrorism charges were still ongoing.
Kivumbi had spent nearly six months on remand. He was charged alongside 22 others over election violence that erupted in Butambala during the January 2026 general elections.
“I’M COMING WITH NEW ENERGY”
On Thursday night, a defiant Kivumbi told cheering supporters he was ready to go back to work.“I am going to rest for only two days.
Beginning Monday, I am coming to the NUP headquarters as Deputy President for Buganda. I am going to announce a new war that will liberate this country. I am coming with new energy,” he said.
He also made fresh claims about the night of the elections, alleging that security forces targeted his home and killed 10 people, not the 7 the government reported. “That night, they had come to finish me,” Kivumbi said.
Government maintains that the 7 people killed were involved in attacks on Kibibi Police Station and the district EC tally centre. Kivumbi insists they were members of his campaign team.
PATTERN OR COINCIDENCE?
The re-arrest raises questions about coordination between the Judiciary and security agencies.
Human rights lawyers and opposition leaders say it fits a pattern of suspects being re-arrested immediately after court release.
The timing is also significant. It comes amid heightened political tension and pressure from religious and cultural leaders for government to ease its crackdown on opposition figures.
TV10 Gano Mazima is monitoring the situation and will bring updates as they unfold.
