Sam Mugumya, the former personal assistant to veteran opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye, has been arrested.
Mugumya was reportedly apprehended while having breakfast at NIM Hotel in Nyamitanga, Mbarara. He was picked up by military personnel some in uniform, others in plain clothes who arrived in a drone vehicle.
His arrest was confirmed by Winnie Byanyima, the wife of detained opposition leader Dr. Besigye.
“Deeply concerned about the arrest of my friend Sam Mugumya today. Sam is contesting the Rukungiri Municipality parliamentary seat. He is a law-abiding citizen. This is political,” Byanyima said.
Earlier this month, Mugumya announced his intention to contest for the Rukungiri Municipality parliamentary seat on the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) ticket. He is expected to face tough competition, including from former presidential candidate Gen. Henry Tumukunde.
Mugumya is making a political comeback after his release in 2022 from an eight-year detention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is positioning himself as a voice for justice and democracy.
He was arrested on October 21, 2014, allegedly for illegally entering the DRC. At the time, Uganda’s then Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa, claimed that Mugumya had traveled to the DRC to “pronounce rebellion” against the Ugandan government. Kutesa alleged that Mugumya had used false identities and entered the DRC with the intent of launching a war against a “brotherly government.”
Despite efforts by the FDC and Ugandan authorities, the DRC refused to extradite him, citing the absence of an extradition treaty between the two nations. Mugumya was reportedly detained along with four other Ugandans, though the identities of three of them were never revealed.
In 2016, then Minister of International Relations Henry Okello Oryem told Parliament that Mugumya was being held under the terms of the Ngurdoto Agreement—a 2007 bilateral accord between Uganda and the DRC prohibiting support for subversive activities across each other’s borders.
Numerous legal and political efforts were made to secure Mugumya’s release. FDC leaders consistently advocated for him, and human rights lawyer Adam Kyomuhendo even petitioned the East African Court of Justice to block the DRC’s admission into the East African Community (EAC), arguing that Mugumya’s prolonged detention without trial violated human rights.
Mugumya rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a political activist closely aligned with Dr. Besigye. Alongside current Buhweju MP Francis Mwijukye, he played a visible role in FDC demonstrations.
A graduate of Makerere University with a degree in political science, Mugumya served as Secretary General of the FDC Youth League before becoming Besigye’s personal assistant. He was also a leading figure in the Activists for Change (A4C) pressure group and a prominent organizer of the 2011 “Walk to Work” protests, often seen shielding Besigye during security crackdowns.
With his return to active politics, Mugumya’s candidacy is expected to energize progressive and youth voters in Rukungiri Municipality especially those drawn to a candidate with a long track record of activism and resilience.
