The wife of a fisherman from Malembo in Kyesiiga County in Masaka District is demanding that the army hand over her husband Julius Bukenya alias Nyerere, 30, who was allegedly abducted from their home by men in military uniforms on September 5 this year.
Sulaina Natukunda claims that her husband was kidnapped in the evening when he was returning from a fishing trip.
“I had just given birth and my husband came back from the landing site to check on me when the drone came and picked him up and took him away,” Mrs. Natukunda said.
Mrs. Natukunda claims that the kidnappers left her a number to call, promising that it would lead her to her husband, but the number was false.
She says she reported the matter to the Kyesiiga police station, but officers told her they could not help her because the kidnappers were in military uniforms.
Natukunda adds that the officers told her: “Just go and stay at home because the matter is now in the hands of the government.”
Natukunda insists that her husband, who has lived on the Malembo airstrip since childhood, is in no way linked to bomb making.
She is now appealing to security officers to return her husband because she has three children and he is the breadwinner of the family.
Mrs. Reginah Nakaggwa, a neighbor of the missing fisherman, disputes the kidnappers’ claim that they traced his phone, but she nevertheless gave him the phone from her brother’s shop in Kyesiiga.
Eyewitnesses say they tried unsuccessfully to run after the alleged kidnappers’ vehicle.
According to Emmanuel Nsamba, the defense secretary of Malembo village, Bukenya is a model resident who never left the landing site, which is why he wonders where the bombing allegations come from.
Jamil Kivumbi, a human rights activist at Bukoto Central in Masaka, says a campaign has begun to find Bukenya.
“We are asking the security agencies that abducted Bukenya to bring him to justice (so that he can) be charged with the crimes he is accused of other than hiding him from his family members,” Kivumbi said.
Greater Masaka Regional Police spokesperson, Twaha Kasirye, declined to comment on the matter and referred the reporter to his superiors in Kampala.
However, after contacting Army spokesman Brig. General Felix Kulayigye said he was unaware of the kidnapping reports and blamed the family for the delay in reporting the matter to the police.
“As the military, we are not aware of what happened, let them check with other security agencies, but we are not in his custody,” Kulayigye said.