KAMPALA-UGANDA/NEWSDAY; Author and harsh government critic Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has not been seen or heard from in a month, since his highly publicized brutal arrest on December 28 by security agents.
But on Monday, after a month in jail, Kakwenza bared his soul. He shared his terrible 30-day torture ordeal behind bars with Mathias Mpuuga, the leader of opposition in parliament, and his team that visited him inside Kitalya Mini-Max Prison.
Yesterday January 25, Buganda Road court granted Kakwenza a cash bail of Shs 500,000 but was kidnapped moments after security officers stormed the prison facilities and whisked him away to an unknown destination. As a bail condition, Buganda Road court forbade him from speaking about his case and experiences in jail. The case was adjourned to February 1.
Mpuuga and his team were received by the Officer in Charge (OC) of Kitalya Prison who immediately sent for Kakwenza. A visibly frail but jovial Kakwenza limped in. He bore visible scars, especially on his right arm. He had a very big and long scar from the elbow to the hand. His left foot was swollen too.
He spoke about his arrest, detention, home search, and his hurried and hushed appearance before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Douglas Singiza.
He was charged with offensive communication. Originally, police had preferred a charge of offensive communication and disturbing the peace of President Museveni and First son and Commander of Land Forces Lt. Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
In his own words, Kakwenza told Mpuuga and his team, “I was blindfolded down to my neck all the time I was at the detention facility but I have a good sense of geography. I think I was detained in Entebbe. My whole head was covered till the neck. My captors would tell me to dance all night and day. I was forced to carry weights or a jerry-can full of water and told to dance. We could only rest when it was time for eating or sleeping. Even the sleep was not enough,” he told his visitors.
“…I would be allowed to sleep for 30 minutes. I could not sleep because the floor was too cold. They would pour water on the tiles,” he said.
“When they saw me shivering, they would then instruct me to do pushups. One of them noticed that I was too fit and he promised to take me to the head of the UPDF legal department so that I could join the army,” Kakwenza said.
“I was in too much pain. They would inject me six times every six hours with substances I did not know. Three injections in my feet and three injections on the buttocks. I would be forced to swallow a handful of tablets and capsules every six hours,” he said.
“Before visiting my homes in Kisaasi and Iganga, I was badly beaten the day before. I was undressed and beaten while naked. I had wounds on my buttocks. By the time I was brought here (Kitalya), I could neither walk nor sit. For the time I have spent here (Kitalya Prison), I have been treated with human dignity. I am in too much pain but I pity those people who did these things to me. God knows,” he said.
Asked by Mpuuga whether he has had access to his lawyers and a personal physician, Kakwenza said, “Yes my lawyers have checked on me. The prison authorities brought in a physician but he was not able to check my internal organs. Sometimes I feel pain on the left side of my heart and I usually get panic attacks. When the physician counted for me, I had 47 scars on my back. I also have 16 scars on my thigh. They used whips and pliers to pluck out pieces of flesh from my body. I feel too much pain between the foot and the knee. It seems my fibula was damaged. By the time I got here, all my legs were swollen,” he said.
“Before I was taken to court, I was checked. They bought me new clothes. They bought new trousers, a shirt and a sweater, which looked like the clothes I wore when I was arrested…,” he said.
Inside Buganda Road Magistrate’s court, it was me, the two prosecutors, and the magistrate only. The magistrate did not grant my request to allow my lawyers to attend court yet their chambers were just across. He only read my charges and I took my plea. I was sent here (Kitalya).”
Interviewed for this story, Mpuuga said Kakwenza bore visible torture marks on the body.
“Kakwenza has torn nails, swollen feet, and scars all over the body. It is a very despicable picture. I can’t believe that in this day and age men in uniform can descend upon a civilian and torture him to those extremes. It should be Gen. Muhoozi in jail, not Kakwenza. Muhoozi as a former commander of Special Forces and now commander land forces is operating a torture dungeon at the SFC base in Entebbe. In another country, Muhoozi would be in prison but he’s still a commander yet he is bringing disrepute to the dignity of human beings. I am confident Kakwenza is not the only person that has faced torture sanctioned by Muhoozi. There are many more and things should not happen this way.”
At 4:20 pm on December 28, 2021, minutes before gun-toting men cut down his apartment door in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija tweeted frantically, “Currently under house arrest. Gunmen are breaking into my house by force.”
He was held incommunicado for days until lawyers run to court. On January 10, the civil division of the High court ordered the government to produce Kakwenza in court before justice Musa Sekaana on January 12, 2022. But his captors hurriedly took him to Buganda Road on January 11, which remanded him to Kitalya.
Interviewed then, Eron Kiiza, Kakwenza’s lawyer said the brutal arrest of his client traumatized him personally.
“I was on phone with Kakwenza during the entire process of his arrest. I felt helpless because I could not help him as these Special Forces Command (SFC) goons broke into his home. The whole process of arrest was violent and torturous.”
He said he spoke to Kakwenza for about 30 minutes before his captors finally cut their way door-to-door into his apartment and arrested him.
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