His wife Eva Basiima says that Kakwenza was dumped at their home in Iganga district at around 3 am Wednesday. He has now been taken to the hospital for treatment of torture wounds allegedly inflicted on him during his time in custody.
“He has scars which are healing but he was complaining of pain in his internal organs. He told me not to reveal the hospital and you know he was also ordered by court not to talk to journalists over this case so you cannot talk to him,” Basiima said on phone.
Basiima added that the family has also vacated their home in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb after the landlord told them that he couldn’t stand a tenant with ‘issues.’
This is the home that Kakwenza was arrested from on December 28, 2021, and later arraigned before the court on charges of offensive communication.
It is alleged that Kakwenza used Twitter handle, @KakwenzaRukira, to post a series of tweets about President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and his son Lt General Muhoozi Kainerugaba with no purpose of legitimate communication. In one of the tweets, Kakwenza allegedly refers to the president as an election thief and in another, he calls Muhoozi overweight and intellectually bankrupt.
The European Union in Uganda in an earlier short statement expressed concern over Kakwenza’s continued detention and demanded his immediate release.
“We express our serious concern at reports that Ugandan writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has been taken against his will by armed men and is again being held in an unknown place of detention. If confirmed, such an action just hours after a magistrate ordered for his release on bail is a clear disrespect to the rule of law and the right of a Ugandan citizen to a fair trial. Mr Rukirabashaija should be released immediately and we appeal to all parties concerned to ensure that the rule of law and due process are upheld in this and all cases in Uganda.” the statement read.Â
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