Arua Chaos: Bobi Wine Bodyguard remanded over treason

The Chief Magistrates Court in Gulu has charged and remanded Eddie Ssebuufu, also known as Eddie Mutwe, a bodyguard to Kyadondo East Legislator Robert Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi Wine over the Arua chaos.

Following the August 13 chaos in Arua Municipality by-election in which the presidential convoy was pelted with stones, over 30 people including four MPs were arrested by security before being charged with treason.

Meanwhile, Mutwe went missing on August 25 before his lawyers put security agencies to task to produce him and recently, the High Court in Kampala issued a habeas corpus to have him produced dead or alive.

On Tuesday afternoon, treason charges with an intent to harm the president of Uganda were read against the MP Kyagulanyi bodyguard by the Gulu Chief Magistrates court  but he was not allowed to take plea because it a capital offence only tried by the High Court.

Gulu Chief Magistrate Yunus Ndiwalana remanded  Ssebuufu to Gulu government prison until October 1.

After a week of disappearance, it turned out that Mutwe had been slapped with treason charges by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Uganda Police Force according to a detention order dated August 30 seen by this website.

“Receive one Edward Ssebuufu alias Eddy Mutwe charged with treason vide Arua CRB 3444/2018 pending further investigations,” read in part the detention order from Kireka to the Officer in Charge of Jinja Road police station that later indicates that the suspect had been received by the police station.

His lawyers would later threaten to sue the Criminal Investigations Director Grace Akullo and two other police officer over his detention.

The lawyers led by Eron Kiiza have written to Akullo, Detective Senior Commissioner of Police Elly Womanya, the officer in charge of CID Headquarters and Superintendent of Police Moses Eliau, the Jinja Road DPC threatening to take them on personally over Mutwe’s illegal detention beyond the mandatory 48 hours.

“Whereas High Court on August 30, 2018 ordered for his production in court on September 4, 2018, you ignored the order only to mislead the Attorney General and the honorable court that Eddie Mutwe was on his way to Gulu for arraignment before a competent court,”Kiiza said in a September 6 letter to the three police officers.

“Whereas the family and friends of our client have been pleading with you to release him, you are illegally ignoring the pleas.”

However, on Monday,the High Court in Kampala ordered for the unconditional release  of Bobi Wine’s bodyguard.

“It is hereby ordered that the applicant(Eddie Mutwe) being in continuing illegal police detention , this court in exercise of discretionary power pursuant to rule 6 of the Judicature rules orders any officers under whose custody the applicant is detained to immediately and unconditionally release him,” ordered Justice Musa Ssekaana on Monday.