Kampala, Uganda – Two National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters, Ssentongo Shakur aka Gaza Media and Mpalanyi Micheal aka Infantry, have gone public with harrowing accounts of abduction, torture, and inhumane detention allegedly orchestrated by Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).
Speaking to the media alongside NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, the pair recounted months of physical and psychological abuse, beginning with their forcible disappearance in March 2025.
According to Rubongoya, Shakur was abducted on March 5, while Infantry was taken on March 18. Both men say they were held incommunicado at the CMI detention facility in Mbuya, a location increasingly associated with torture and enforced disappearances.
“We were denied sunlight for weeks. Our bodies were broken, but what they really wanted was to break our minds,” said Shakur, who now requires medical support to stand due to severe stomach injuries.
Throughout their detention, the captives say their interrogators focused obsessively on their support for NUP and its leader, Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine).
“They asked how much we’re paid, how we communicate, and what Bobi Wine is planning. They said, ‘You can support any other party, just not NUP.’” Infantry, still visibly weak, said during the press briefing.
These confessions have reignited fears that state security agencies are being used to suppress opposition activism, not through due process, but through covert abduction and torture.
Both men are currently receiving urgent medical attention, with doctors concerned about internal injuries and trauma sustained during the months in solitary confinement. Shakur reportedly cannot walk without assistance, and both men show signs of malnutrition and mental exhaustion.
“This is beyond politics. It is a humanitarian crisis. No citizen deserves this,” Rubongoya said, condemning what he termed as “systemic criminality masquerading as national security.”
This latest testimony adds to a growing dossier of alleged torture and enforced disappearances linked to Uganda’s military intelligence operations. Civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Chapter Four Uganda, have previously sounded the alarm over a consistent pattern of abductions targeting NUP supporters since the 2021 elections.
Despite these allegations, no high-level security officer has ever been prosecuted for such abuses.
Rubongoya and the broader NUP leadership are now doubling down on their calls for an independent investigation into CMI operations, immediate release of all illegally detained supporters, and prosecution of officers involved in torture.
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