KAMPALA — Ugandan police on Thursday detained Muwanga Kivumbi, a lawmaker and senior figure in the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), accusing him of involvement in election-related violence in Butambala district that left seven people dead, as tensions persist following President Yoweri Museveni’s declared re-election victory.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said Kivumbi — described by police as a key NUP leader in the Buganda region and a close ally of opposition figure Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) — is likely to face criminal charges. Rusoke said investigators believe some of the 21 suspects arrested over the Butambala unrest have implicated Kivumbi, alleging he played a role in clashes between security forces and opposition supporters in the area.
The Butambala incident has become one of the most politically charged flashpoints of the post-election period. According to reporting by the Associated Press, the seven deaths occurred after unidentified security personnel fired at Kivumbi’s house; Kivumbi later spoke emotionally during funerals for those killed, describing them as victims of violence by the armed forces. Museveni, however, has publicly blamed opposition-linked groups for attempting to foment disorder, alleging those killed had attacked police with machetes — an account contested by the opposition.
Wine, a musician-turned-politician and Museveni’s main challenger, has said he is in hiding after official results credited Museveni with 71.6% of the vote to Wine’s 24.7% — figures Wine has rejected as fraudulent. The election period was marked by a dayslong internet shutdown and technical failures affecting biometric voter identification, which contributed to voting delays in some areas, including the capital, Kampala.
Police, for their part, insist Wine is not under investigation. Rusoke said authorities “protected” Wine through the election and argued there was no basis for claims that he would be unsafe after voting concluded.
Museveni, 81, now begins a seventh five-year term, extending a rule that began in 1986, amid renewed scrutiny of Uganda’s long-running pattern of contested elections and the absence of a peaceful presidential transfer of power since independence.
