Muwanga Kivumbi, 24 co-accused further remanded

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The Butambala Chief Magistrate's Court on Thursday set June 14, 2026, to give its ruling on whether to terminate proceedings in the single terrorism case where former Butambala Member of Parliament, Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, and 24 others are accused.

This came after defence lawyers asked the presiding magistrate Deogratious Ssejemba, to terminate proceedings into the matter citing repeated violation of court orders, laws and procedures enshrined in the constitution.

Prosecution led by Salam Nabosa had earlier informed the court that investigations into this matter remain incomplete and that the court file was recalled to Kampala by the director of public prosecutions for review and guidance, and it has since not been brought back.

Medard Lubega SSegona, one of the lawyers for the accused, told the court that the prosecution has made it a habit to disregard the advice and orders of the court, including expediting the investigation of the case.

"Your worship, we call you to review your earlier decision, which you gave in the previous court proceedings, where you directed the state attorney to expedite and have the committal papers presented in court today. We pray that you terminate these proceedings," Ssegona submitted.

Ssegona wondered why the state attorney found it impossible to go and follow up on the case file and only come to inform the court that the file is still in Kampala.

Samuel Muyizi Mulindwa invited the court to apply the absolute anti-illegality precedent in support of their prayer to halt the trial and any other proceedings in this matter. 

"A trial court must immediately halt or reject any proceedings that commit an illegality regardless of any technicalities, once these are brought to the court's attention, override procedural technicalities," Muyizi submitted. 

On April 28, 2026, when this matter came up for further mention, Chief Magistrate Deogratious Ssejemba expressed concern over the failure by the prosecution to comply with court directives and repeated inconsistencies in their submissions and, therefore, ordered the state to ensure that all committal papers are brought in court without delay or failure by May 14.

The court also fixed May 14 as the deadline for the prosecution to provide all documents in a bid to facilitate committal of the suspects to the High Court.

Ssegona also asked the court to pronounce itself on the repeated detentions of relatives of the accused persons who come to follow up on the case.

He gave an example of a one Muhammad Nsubuga, whom he said was arrested by security personnel as he attempted to access court premises and whisked away to Kibibi police station, where he is being kept in police custody. 

Chief Magistrate Ssejemba asked the defence lawyers led by Medard Ssegona to first follow up the case at Kibibi police station before the Court pronounces itself on the matter.

He adjourned the proceedings to June 4, when court will give a ruling on the issues raised by the defence team.

The case

Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, the former Butambala Constituency Member of Parliament, and 24 other co-accused are battling a single terrorism case stemming from violence which occurred in Gombe and Kibibi towns in the aftermath of the January 15 general elections. 

They are accused of orchestrating violent incidents, including an attack on Kibibi Police Station and the district vote-tallying center at Gombe district headquarters, incidents that resulted in the death of seven people. 

The team of defence lawyers led by senior lawyers, Medard Lubega Ssegona, Erias Lukwago and Samuel Muyizi Mulindwa, Kenneth Paul Kakande first challenged the legality of the detention, citing severe human rights violations and also alleging that Kivumbi was prosecuted without a recorded statement before the court. 

Last month, however, the court released two of the prisoners after investigations revealed that they were minors, whom Chief Magistrate Ssejemba initially ordered to be transferred from Kitalya Prison to Naguru Juvenile Prison, where they were being held until the court ordered their bail.

After the court, Ssegona told us that they expect the court to decide the truth on the matter and release the accused because they are being tried in violation of the law.