Man drags security agencies to court over the disappearance of his son

A family has dragged the government to High Court in Kampala over the detention of their son, Jonathan Pyani Muhumuza, for unknown reasons.

The respondents in the case include, the Attorney General of Uganda, Chief of Defence Forces, UPDF, the Inspector General of Police and The Director, Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).

Joshua Mudingotto Pyani, the father of Muhumuza, in an affidavit said his son was arrested by joint security forces in Kampala while on his way to Makerere University and whisked away to Special Investigations Division (SID) of Uganda Police Force at Kireka.

The son is a student of Industrial psychology Makerere University and a resident of Kyaliwajjala, Namugongo, a Kampala suburb.

Mudingotto said on the fateful day of the arrest, his son was driving a dark Grey Toyota Wish, UBD 391K registered in his mother’s name Kobumanzi Jovita.  The car is missing.

He said on September 15 2022, security officers from CMI and SIU Kireka searched his son's home in Kyaliwajjala and confiscated some of his properties.

On September 25 2022, he reported the case of disappearance/missing person at Kira Division Police Station but his was told his son was being held at SIU.

"The applicant remains detained incommunicado, detained without trial or charges against him. To date, the respondents continue to block me and other family members from accessing or speaking to the applicant despite making several trips to his detention facility," he said in his affidavit.

He said no family member, friend or relative has been informed on the condition of their son nor allowed to access him even after several inquiries at his captors’ detention facility.

Through his lawyers, Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates, Mudingotto said the continued detention of his son without trial is arbitrarily, illegal, unconstitutional, an abuse of the legal process and amounts to psychological torture.

He wants court to order the security agencies to produce his son before court of law whether dead or alive.