Mr Mugumya and others went missing in October 2015 before Congolese and Uganda army officials announced he was being held in DR Congo where he was arrested with his four colleagues.

Mugumya Sam is an outstanding Ugandan youth leader, a known law-abiding citizen whose participation and contribution towards the struggle for a demonstrably democratic society in Uganda needs no elaboration. His sacrifice, intellectual capacities, leadership abilities and service to the FDC, to the youth and the country at large are evident in the growing youth movement whose leadership and ranks he has been part of for more than a decade. Given his resilience, Spartan discipline and fortitude in the midst of the ceaseless persecution and the malicious prosecution he has suffered at the hands of the regime, Mugumya has remained the embodiment of valour, rectitude and service above self that he has always been. Mugumya has constantly been politically targeted with various trumped-up charges in various courts of Uganda including treason charges but in all these, he has never been found guilty, instead, cases against him are always dismissed by courts before he is even asked to defend himself. This description easily applies to the rest of his four colleagues with whom he is being detained in Congo.

We note with concern however that these five Ugandans who are also our FDC members that were arrested at the Congo-Uganda boarder in western Uganda have continued to be detained at Ndolo military prison in Kinshasha far much longer than it had been anticipated. It should be noted that these are our fdc leaders who hold various positions in our party structures from western Uganda in Nyakagyeme subcounty, Rukungiri district which boarders DRC.

 These members include;

Mr Aggrey Kamukama (Treasurer Kahoko parish)

 Mr Steven Mugisha (Mobilization Secretary Kitimba parish)

 Mr Nathan Bright Youth (Secretary Kigaaga oparish)

 Mr Joseph Kamugisha (Publicity Secretary Rwerere parish)

Mr Mugumya sam served as Secretary to the Party President

They escaped in Uganda where they were facing political persecution and politically motivated charges like treason only to be arrested at the border with DRC seeking refuge.

We were however shocked recently to receive the news that the Congo authorities were finalizing arrangements to have these gentlemen court-martialed for charges that relate to ADF activities in Eastern Congo. We would like to emphasize that the said members have never been involved in any such activities; they are law abiding Ugandan citizens who escaped to Congo simply seeking refugee from the hostile Kampala regime that was harassing them.

When the five got arrested two years ago, the Congo authorities announced that it was going to charge them with illegal entry into the DRC territory. Although that in itself would have been unfair and unjust, we have now been shocked to hear that at the time when we expect the Congo authorities to reconsider their detention and release them or at least depot them back into Uganda, Congo is now instead arranging to transfer them to Beni to be court-martialed at conducted by the Operational Court Martial of North Kivu in collaboration with high military court magistrates. This without doubt amounts to an abuse of international law and justice systems that relate to such asylum seekers.

The news of Mugumya’s arrest and detention was first broken by Lt. Col Paddy Ankunda the Army and Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) Spokesman, who in a televised address, announced Mugumya’s capture by the UPDF, allegedly for his complicity in subversive activities against the incumbent Government of Uganda, details of which he did not provide. In that statement, he categorically stated that “Mugumya’s days are finally over,”.

 Days later, Lt. Col. Ankunda changed his narrative and stated that the UPDF was not in possession of Mugumya and was instead waiting for him to be extradited to Uganda by the Congolese authorities. We have since waited for this extradition up to now in vain.

 There after, the Director of the Government Media Centre, Mr. Ofwono Opondo uploaded an exclusive image of a bare-chested Mugumya, purportedly under detention in the DRC. The said photo did not prove, by any stretch of the imagination, that Mugumya was at that time of publication in the DRC. It only raised more questions than answers.

We then heard from press reports that a one Brig. Muhindo Akili, Commander of the North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had confirmed detention of Mugumya Sam and “imminent transfer to the capital Kinshasa where he (Mugumya) might be held for a month pending investigations!”, facing charges of illegal entry. Its now two years and they are not only still in detention, but also the preferred charges have since been changed from illegal entry to now be charged with killing innocent people in North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

We demand from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Internal affairs, Defence and the DRC Embassy in Uganda to furnish Ugandans with a comprehensive statement about the circumstances surrounding this continued detention of these gentlemen and the reported attempts by Congo authorities to Court-martial them in Beni , Democratic Republic of the Congo;

Where is Maj. James Kinobe, the Ugandan ambassador to Kinshasa in all this? What steps has His Excellency Kinobe taken to remedy this situation?

We demand that Mugumya Sam and the other four be brought back to Uganda and if they have any cases to answer, they should be tried under the Uganda courts of law.

 

Thanks

…………………………………………………..

Mr Kaija Haroid

Deputy Secretary General

Forum for Democratic Change (Uganda)