Government Chief Whip Dr. Ruth Aceng
Government has asked Parliament for two weeks to present a report detailing the whereabouts of political and human rights activists allegedly abducted and missing for months, with some missing for years.
The commitment was given by Government Chief Whip Dr. Ruth Aceng while responding to concerns raised by Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi during the October 1, 2026 plenary sitting.
“Yesterday, I had a discussion with the Minister of Internal Affairs and he said he has linked up with the Minister for Defence so that together, they will produce a report. If they find that they have the people, they will say so. I am only requesting that we give them time, maybe two weeks,” Aceng said.
“I have said two weeks because I am not in that ministry, I want them to come here and tell us exactly, name by name, because now they have the names,” she added.
Ssenyonyi’s complaint follows leaked videos circulating on social media showing political prisoners including Sam Mugumya and former Butambala County MP Muwanga Kivumbi allegedly held in undisclosed premises commonly known as safe houses.
Ssenyonyi said he has seen disturbing images of Mugumya, who was picked up in August 2025, disabled and still incarcerated, and Kivumbi who was abducted and held for three weeks before being produced in court.
He challenged government officials dismissing the videos leaked by former Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence officer Lt. Herbert Mabonga as fake and AI-generated, to produce the missing persons in court to disprove torture claims.
“Government officials can, for example, claim that is AI, those are fake videos, those are cooked up stories, but here is the challenge I am putting to government, if this information is fake, if the videos everyone is seeing of safe houses where people are tortured are fake, why don’t you produce these people in court? Why?” Ssenyonyi asked.
He wondered why political prisoners are treated worse than suspected murderers, citing cases of Okello Onyum convicted of murdering three children at a daycare facility in Gaba and Vincent Nsamba suspected of killing Afrigo Band member Moses Matovu, who were swiftly produced in court without torture.
“I don’t understand why murderers are accorded due process, which they are entitled to. But if that can happen for murderers, why are people who have different political persuasions taken to torture chambers for weeks, for months, and they cannot be produced in court?” he asked.
Ssenyonyi warned that continued torture and human rights violations work against government’s agenda of attracting tourists and investment.
“I have seen some government officials, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others, out there fighting to try and clean up the image of government. But as they try and do that, there are those working to soil the image,” he said.
Speaker Jacob Oboth asked government to take the matter seriously, saying such actions give the opposition political capital.
“You know these things of saying who has disappeared, and when Leader of Opposition gets to go out, that is what they talk about. If you want to see him being LOP let us continue doing what he is complaining about. Otherwise, if we do the right thing, LOP would be the government chief,” Oboth said.
“I am happy government is committed, let this thing be resolved and within two weeks, government should get back here with the report. Two weeks is not too long, actually, parliamentary calendar, two weeks is six days,” he added.
Ssenyonyi welcomed the commitment but asked government to halt any further abductions before all missing persons are accounted for.
“I do appreciate that now there is some kind of definitive time. Previously, government has always said, we shall come, we shall come. It takes a week, a month. My worry though is that before the two weeks elapse, some other people might be picked up,” he said.
The Government Chief Whip thanked the Leader of Opposition for providing a list of abducted persons as earlier requested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, saying an exercise is underway to establish their whereabouts.
