Detainment of Opposition Official Highlights Uganda's Political Tensions

A senior member of Uganda's largest opposition party, National Unity Platform (NUP), was detained by police on Monday. Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, NUP's deputy spokesperson, was apprehended outside a magistrate's court in Kampala while attending a court appearance for his colleagues, according to the opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi.

Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke confirmed Mufumbiro's detainment but withheld reasons and details about upcoming court proceedings. This act has fueled tensions, with NUP and other opposition groups alleging that government forces are conducting a campaign of abductions and torture targeting opposition figures ahead of the elections expected early next year.

The authorities, including police and the military, have previously denied such targeting, stating arrests only occur in criminal cases. However, criticism from opposition leaders like Ssenyonyi, who accused President Yoweri Museveni's regime of 'cowardice and criminality,' continues. The justice minister, Norbert Mao, has called for swift judicial processes, especially after previous incidents of alleged torture of detained activists like Eddie Mutwe.