Lawyers Ask Principal Judge to Reallocate Case Involving Besigye’s Aide Sam Mugumya

Lawyers for missing political activist Sam Mugumya have requested that Principal Judge Jane Frances Abodo reassign his habeas corpus application to a different judge, citing repeated adjournments and ongoing concerns about his alleged detention.

In a letter dated October 7, 2026, Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates asked the Principal Judge to urgently intervene and ensure that Application Number 0208 of 2026, filed against the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and five other respondents, is heard within seven days.

The other respondents are Commandant Special Forces Command-SFC, Commanding Officer Kasenyi Barracks, Director, Directorate of Intelligence and Security, Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General.

The lawyers argue that the repeated postponement of the case undermines Mugumya’s constitutional right to personal liberty and access to justice.

According to the letter by Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates, the application was filed on August 5, 2026, and issued by the High Court on August 7 before being allocated to Justice Simon Peter Kinobe.

The matter was initially scheduled for hearing on September 15, 2026, but was adjourned to October 7.

It did not proceed on either date, with the lawyers stating that the judge prioritised election petitions.

The case has now been adjourned to November 17, 2026, a delay the lawyers say is incompatible with the urgency required in applications seeking the production of a person allegedly being held unlawfully.

“We fully appreciate the demands that election petitions place upon the Court. A habeas corpus ad subjiciendum is even more urgent,” the lawyers wrote, arguing that such applications should ideally be handled within hours, in accordance with the nature of the remedy and the applicable rules.

Habeas corpus is a legal procedure through which a court can require authorities to produce a detained person and justify the legality of their detention.

Mugumya’s lawyers allege that he was abducted by armed men in Mbarara on August 26, 2025, and has since been held incommunicado at the Special Forces Command (SFC) facility in Kasenyi.

They contend that the facility is not gazetted for the detention of civilians and that Mugumya has neither been charged nor produced before a competent court since his alleged arrest. The application relies on affidavits and accounts attributed to former detainees who allegedly saw Mugumya at the Kasenyi facility.

The lawyers also refer to a video recording said to show Mugumya in a severely weakened condition and unable to walk without assistance. They argue that his alleged condition raises serious concerns about his health, safety and possible treatment while in detention.

Now, the latest application is the second habeas corpus case filed on Mugumya’s behalf.

According to Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates, the High Court, in Miscellaneous Cause No. 0227 of 2025, issued a writ on September 5, 2025, directing the respondents to produce Mugumya within seven days.

On September 12, 2025, the court also directed the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police to investigate his arrest and whereabouts and report back within seven days.

The lawyers say the orders were served on the Attorney General but have not resulted in Mugumya’s production before court.

However, the respondents have since disputed the allegations of detention. In an affidavit in reply, Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Musasizi, a Uganda People’s Defence Forces officer serving as Director of Civil Affairs at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, denies that Mugumya was in the custody of any of the respondents.

Musasizi stated that he had checked gazetted detention facilities under the respondents’ control and confirmed that Mugumya was not, and had never been, in their custody.

He further argued that the application was misconceived, lacked credible evidence and amounted to an abuse of court process. He maintained that Mugumya had not provided sufficient proof to support the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus.

In their letter to the Principal Judge, the lawyers have invoked Articles 23(9) and 44(d) of the Constitution, arguing that the right to habeas corpus is inviolable and cannot be suspended.

They also cited Article 28(1), which guarantees a fair and speedy hearing, and Article 126(2)(b), which requires courts to administer justice without undue delay.

The lawyers contend that every further adjournment prolongs uncertainty over Mugumya’s whereabouts and delays judicial scrutiny of the allegations against the state agencies named in the application.

Lawyer Eron Kiiza has asked the Principal Judge to transfer the matter to another available judge for hearing within seven days of their letter or make alternative arrangements to ensure that it proceeds without further delay. As of today, October 9, 2026, the case is scheduled for November 17, unless the Principal Judge grants the request for urgent reallocation or other administrative intervention.

Sam Mugumya was released from the Military Detention in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo on October 21st 2022, on allegations of illegal entry into the DRC and plotting a rebellion against the Ugandan government.

By the time of his release, Mugumya, then 43 years old, had spent 8 years in jail. He had been jailed in October 2014. The DRC government had in the past declined to extradite Mugumya despite calls by the government and the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.

The then Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa, said that the DRC government had indicated that Mugumya had gone to the DRC to pronounce rebellion against Uganda. He alleged that Mugumya had willingly stated that the purpose of his entry and use of pseudonyms was because he was going to fight a brotherly government.

Sam Mugumya came to the limelight around the early 2000s. Together with the current Buhwejju MP, Francis Mwijukye were known to have stood with former FDC President Dr. Kiiza Besigye during demonstrations.

Mugumya started his political activism when he was a student of political science at Makerere University. He served as the Secretary General of the Youth League of the FDC. He later became the personal assistant to former FDC president Dr. Kizza Besigye, who is also now in jail at Luzira Prison with another aide, Abeid Lutale, on charges of treason following their arrest in Kenya in November 2024.

Mugumya was one of the strong members of the Activists for Change lobby group founded around 2011. He was a prominent figure in the Walk to Work campaign, in which he was always seen guarding Dr. Kiiza Besigye against security and police brutality.

Mugumya described himself as easy-going, fun-loving, but a hardened crusader for justice and freedom.” Mugumya also indicated that he strongly believed in revolutions and that his greatest idols were Dr. Kizza Besigye and former Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com

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