Terrorism case: MP Kivumbi reappears in court today

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Outgoing Butambala County MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi and 22 others charged with terrorism are expected to reappear in the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Butambala district Tuesday (April 28).

The charges relate to violence and seven deaths, which occurred in Butambala when the country went to the polls on January 15, 2026, to elect the President and MPs.

By the time of writing this story, the family members of the suspects and Muwanga’s supporters had already arrived at the court's premises for the session.

When the suspects last reappeared in court on April 14, 2026, for a hearing, the chief magistrate, Deogratious Ssejjemba, further remanded them in Kitalya Prison, Wakiso district, until Tuesday, April 28, to allow the prosecution to conduct its investigations.

Muwanga’s co-accused were initially 24, but court released two of them, students, on bail on that very day of April 14.

Kivumbi, who is also the National Unity Platform (NUP) party deputy president for the central region, lost his parliamentary seat in that general election to an independent candidate, Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi.

One of their lawyers, Medard Sseggona, who is the outgoing Busiro East MP, told the media in March 2026 that they would seek other remedies for Kivumbi’s rights that were allegedly abused by the Police.

“He (Kivumbi) has never recorded a statement because he declined to answer to the dictates of the Police. They (the police) wanted a particular line of statement, which he declined, especially when he mentioned the murders that took place at his house on that fateful night,” he said.

So, Sseggona said, they complained to the court that the Police was carrying out lopsided investigations and they needed to be compelled to get impartial and objective police officers to carry out objective and professional investigations.

“The magistrate [Deogratious Ssejjemba] has ruled in his wisdom that he is not in a position to supervise that; it is the work of the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions), and if the DPP has not done that, he has no way out. We opine that there is a way out and we shall compel the DPP to do the job,” he said.

He demanded that Kivumbi be released having violated his rights enshrined in the Constitution.

“Among other things, he was never informed of the offence he committed, no access to his lawyer, no access to his next of kin, etc. At the time of bringing him to court. The magistrate thinks that should be a formal application, which is not a difficult job anyway. So, he declined on those accounts,” Sseggona reported.

“We insisted that we need to know the stage of investigations and to compel the state to act expeditiously as required under Article 28 of the Constitution.”