A video of Sam Mugumya has surfaced online nearly a year after the former opposition aide disappeared, sparking fresh claims of state involvement from his family and rights activists.
Mugumya, 47, worked closely with Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye and was running as a candidate for Besigye’s party. Besigye himself was abducted in Kenya two years ago and remains hospitalized while awaiting trial.
Local media reported in August 2025 that Mugumya was taken by men linked to security forces. He was not seen again until late July 2026, when a clip began circulating on social media. In it, Mugumya appears extremely thin and seated beside a walker.
His mother, Edinansi Katungwesi, told AFP she recognized her son in the video. “I only saw video showing him destroyed and bony,” she said. “Since he was kidnapped months ago, I don’t know anything about him or what is happening to him. It is the government that took my son and I am so angry at them.”
The army declined to comment. A source pointed AFP to a September 2025 statement from the defense ministry denying that Mugumya was in custody. AFP has not independently verified who filmed the video, or when and where it was recorded.
Activist Agather Atuhaire called the footage “appalling and shocking” and said she believes the military is responsible for his disappearance and incommunicado detention. “I am so angry and alarmed that we are letting impunity in our country get worse and worse,” she said.
The Uganda Law Society has filed a petition demanding his release. Vice-president Anthony Asiimwe said, “If he’s being suspected of committing an offence, let him be produced in court and answer the charges. We cannot continue allowing this kind of lawlessness to take place in this country.”
The video emerged as international observers raise concerns about a wider crackdown on opposition figures and activists. Uganda re-elected President Yoweri Museveni for a seventh term in January.
