Bishop Jjumba decries increasing torture of suspects
Masaka Diocesan Bishop Serverus Jjumba
What you need to know:
- Despite what is currently happening in the country, Bishop Jjumba, asked residents of Masaka to stay calm, saying every political liberation struggle Uganda has witnessed in the past it has had a connection to Masaka.
Masaka Diocesan Bishop Serverus Jjumba has condemned the increasing cases of torture of suspects in state security detention, saying it is inhuman and uncalled for.
According to Bishop Jjumba, it is saddening to see suspects who have been in the hands of state security agencies appearing in court limping and unable to walk on their own.
The prelate’s comments come days after Mr Edward Ssebuufu, the chief civilian bodyguard of National Unity Platform(NUP) president, Robert Kyagulanyi, was arraigned before Masaka Chief Magistrates Court on May 5 with signs of torture in detention where he spent over a week after he was abducted by UPDF soldiers attached to the elite SFC operatives.
Ssebuufu, commonly known as Eddie Mutwe, was reportedly abducted in Kiwango Village, Mukono District, on April 27 by security operatives and kept incommunicado for eight days. While appearing before Masaka Chief Magistrate Abdallah Kayiza on May 6, 2025, Mr Ssebuufu could hardly walk or stand in the dock and was supported by two plainclothes security operatives as he limped to the court cells. He was charged with six counts, including aggravated robbery, robbery, and assault –the same charges three of his colleagues - Achilleo Kivumbi, Gadafi Mugumya, and Grace Wakabi Smart, who were also dropped off in Masaka in February after reportedly being tortured, are facing. The quartet is being held at Masaka Main Prison.
Bishop Jjumba wondered why the government has turned Masaka the “biblical Jerusalem” where suspects are taken for trial after facing several forms of physical and psychological torture.
"The government has turned Masaka into Jerusalem. They arrest people from other places and torture them, and then bring them to Masaka. Why do you have to torture a suspect, to the extent of almost being dead and then you think of taking them to court? It's unnecessary," Bishop Jjumba said while delivering his speech during a memorial Mass for late Peragia Nakayiza, the mother of Rev Fr. Edward Ssekabanja at Manzi Village in Kyanamukaka Sub County in Masaka District over the weekend. Fr. Ssekabanja is the judicial vicar for the diocesan ecclesiastical court.
READ: A State of torture?
On Friday, members of Uganda Medical Association (UMA), who visited Ssebuufu at Masaka Central Prison on May 7, 2025, described his condition as dire and asked the government to swiftly allow an independent medical evaluation and treatment by doctors of Ssebuufu’s choice outside the prison system.
According to UMA Secretary General, Dr Joel Mirembe, the medical facilities at Masaka Central Prison, his team observed visible signs of torture, including healing scars, open wounds, swelling in the limbs, and bruises. He added that Ssebuufu was in intense physical and psychological pain and had to be carried into the visitation room by fellow inmates.
Mr Kyagulanyi, who also checked on Ssebuufu last week, said the latter told him that he was electrocuted, water boarded and beaten.
Despite what is currently happening in the country, Bishop Jjumba asked residents of Masaka to stay calm, saying every political liberation struggle Uganda has witnessed in the past has had a connection to Masaka.
"I saw the 1979 liberation war in which Idi Amin’s government was toppled. I also witnessed the 1985 overthrow of the Tito Okello Lutwa government, which saw the current government come into power; both liberation struggles had traces in Masaka. This is a historical fact, but it's not honourable. People should appreciate Masaka instead of making our area look like ancient Jerusalem,” he added.
By press time, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the minister for Information and National Guidance, had not responded to our repeated phone calls to his known mobile phone number. However, Mr Emmanuel Dombo, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) director for information and publicity, said the suspects currently being tried in Masaka committed the offence in the area.
He, however, condemned torture, saying it has no place in modern Uganda.
"I think all suspects tried in Masaka have a connection to having committed crimes in that area because that is what the law says, although torture is not good and it should be fought. I don't know his (cleric’s) views on the crimes committed in Masaka. I think they should also be fought," he added.
Government critics say the State, which has been fused with the ruling party under President Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, uses torture as a form of intimidation and subjugation of dissenting voices.
To them, the use of security operatives to brutalise political opponents is a betrayal by Mr Museveni, who in his January 26, 1986, swearing-in speech promised a fundamental change and not mere change of guards, given the excesses of the past regimes.
