
Eddie Mutwe: Ugandan bodyguard charged after days of torture, lawyer says
Mr Kazibwe told reporters that Mr Sebuufu had faced electrocution and that his team were planning to take him to hospital.Rights groups have long accused the authorities of targeting the opposition especially during the run up to elections.As Mr Sebuufu was brought to court on Monday, security operatives tried to shield him to prevent the media from seeing him. But videos showed Bobi Wine's bodyguard barefoot, and hardly able to walk.Last week, Gen Kainerugabai posted on social media that Mr Sebuufu was in his custody. The army chief said the bodyguard had been shaved and that he planned to castrate him. The detention comes as Uganda gears up for elections in 2026 where Museveni, who has been in power for nearly four decades, is expected to run against Bobi Wine. Several human rights activists have condemned Mr Sebuufuu's detention, meanwhile Uganda's Human Rights Commission called for his immediate release.Civil society organisations have also warned that his detention is part of a systematic campaign to silence dissent and crush opposition ahead of the general election.However, the government blames the opposition for civilian and police clashes, saying they hold rallies without permission. Lawyer Mr Kazibwe added that aside from aggravated robbery, Mr Sebuufuu was also charged with simple robbery over an alleged incident in Lwengo District.
You may also be interested in:
Bobi Wine: Uganda's 'ghetto president'How an ex-rebel has stayed in power for 35 yearsUgandan internet propaganda network exposed by the BBC
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Devastating UK aid cuts are a matter of life and death for women in Africa
It was 11am in Nairobi when I learned how the UK planned to implement aid cuts. As a Pan-African feminist leader supporting women 's rights and feminist movements across Africa, I was devastated. The numbers are stark – £575 million in cuts for 2025 and 2026, a 40 per cent reduction overall, with health and education spending decimated. These cuts will hit hardest in African countries where there are already significant rollbacks in girls' and women's rights. In Kenya, women make important contributions in public and private, as leaders, captains of industry, and as they manage homes, raise families and support entire communities. They are society's backbone, and the UK's decision threatens key sectors that are crucial for them. When Western leaders make decisions far removed from local realities, they miss one fundamental truth: that women are holding our communities together, often unrecognised and unsupported. Now, critical systems that support them are being dismantled. Feminist organisations and movements are the front line of women's rights in Africa, offering services from healthcare for survivors of gender-based violence, to vocational training and educational resources for girls. Yet they receive less than 1 per cent of global development aid. The effective shutdown of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has already left women vulnerable, particularly those needing safe births, emergency care and protection from violence. A survey by UN Women, released in May, revealed 90 per cent of these organisations are financially impacted by these funding reductions, with half expected to shut down in six months. The UK's cuts will deepen the crisis, undoing years of progress. Learning from USAID's shutdown, we know the devastating real-world consequences. With closures in livelihood programmes, some women have turned to transactional sex to survive. Desperate for support, they have no other option. This is a daily reality for women who were already struggling, and it's a devastating blow to their dignity and safety. In rural Kenya, women living with HIV/AIDS already fear they will lose access to life-saving medication. And the loss of sexual and reproductive health services will have a cascading effect: millions of women will be denied access to basic care, and the long-term economic benefits of these services, which return $120 (£89) for every $1 invested, will be lost. Rural women already face long distances to healthcare centres, and now they'll have even fewer options for support. In Uganda, funding cuts will hit LGBT+ communities hard. One partner organisation explained essential services like mental health support, legal aid, and emergency care have already been shut down. The closure of drop-in centres, once a lifeline for marginalised communities, have left women feeling exposed. As they explained: 'These were spaces which were safe and affirming for our communities and when such spaces do not exist anymore, the community is suffering.' The impact on services for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) has also been devastating. A partner organisation in Kenya, was forced to suspend critical medical care, disability-inclusive health interventions, and vocational training. Survivors, particularly those with disabilities, have been left without the essential services they need to heal and rebuild their lives. This isn't just an inconvenience, it's a matter of life and death for many women. And then there's maternal health. African women face some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, and these cuts will deepen the crisis. Without skilled midwives and emergency obstetric care, women will be forced to give birth alone, with no access to life-saving interventions. This will result in preventable deaths, deaths that could have been avoided if these vital services had remained intact. These aren't statistics, they are real women whose lives are being impacted by decisions made far from their communities. The UK's cuts to foreign aid are deeply contradictory. Whilst the government claims to support gender equality, promising to address the root causes of violence against women with the Beijing Declaration and the Maputo Protocol, the reality tells a different story. How can the UK claim to lead in women's rights while actively undermining support for the women who need it most? Women in Africa are primary drivers of economic recovery and peacebuilding, making the cuts counterproductive as well as politically damaging. They will destabilise regions and set back progress, which will be felt for years to come. It's not too late to stand with women and restore these vital services. I'm calling on the UK government to review its plans and recognise their devastating impact. The decision to cut aid for women's health in Africa marks a rollback for access to women's rights on the continent, and globally. An African proverb reminds us: "If we want to go fast, we go alone. If we want to go far, we go together." It's time for the UK to walk with us, together, in solidarity, for a future where women's rights are not negotiable.


BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
Firm fined £1m after worker killed in Manchester by reversing HGV
A wholesale grocery supplier has been fined £1m after one of its workers was killed by a reversing Northern Limited employee Lee Warburton was making a delivery with a colleague to a store in Manchester when he was fatally crushed in February Health & Safety Executive (HSE) said the 53-year-old father-of-three from Stockport became trapped between the lorry and a wall while acting as a banksman, directing the HGV into an unloading London-based company admitted failing to implement a safe system of work for vehicle movements and adequately assess the risks for employees acting as banksmen. Mr Warburton's partner, Hayley Tomlinson, described the day he died as the worst of her life. "To be taken in such a cruel manner made it even harder," she said. "Knowing the pain and fear Lee must have gone through was unbearable. "But nothing compares to the moment I had to tell our children their Daddy was never coming home."She added: "It broke my children's spirits - they lost the sparkle in their eyes. Lee was their hero."My children will miss out on all the milestones Lee should have been here for – walking them down the aisle, meeting their first child. "They miss the cuddles, the love he showed them, the days out. This has changed our lives forever." The HSE investigation found Bestway Northern Limited, of Abbey Road in Park Royal, had failed to implement a safe system of work for vehicle company also failed to adequately assess the risks involved in the task or provide sufficient training for employees acting as pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. As well as being fined £1m, it was ordered at Manchester Magistrates' Court to pay prosecution costs of £11, the hearing, HSE inspector Jane Carroll said: "The company had failed to implement a safe system of work for its delivery and unloading activities, thereby exposing employees and others to the risk of being struck or caught by workplace vehicles."Nearly a quarter of all deaths involving workplace transport occur during reversing, most of which can be avoided by taking simple precautions."All work settings involving vehicles need to consider the risks arising from their use and implement adequate measures to ensure the safety of those involved in these activities." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.


BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
Former MP Mhairi Black announces she has left the SNP
Former SNP MP Mhairi Black has left the party - predominantly over its stance on trans rights and Palestine, the BBC who was formerly the SNP's deputy leader at Westminster, said there had been "too many times" when she did not agree with decisions made by the to The Herald newspaper, she said the SNP had "capitulated" on issues important to her"Basically, for a long time, I've not agreed with quite a few decisions that have been made," she said. Black was catapulted into the political limelight when she was elected to Westminster at the age of 20 and became the youngest MP since stood down ahead of the general election last year, citing safety concerns, social media abuse and unsociable was elected as the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, ousting the former Labour cabinet secretary Douglas Alexander, with her victory there coming as the SNP captured all but three of the seats in Scotland in the 2015 general was first national election since the Scottish independence referendum in announced her departure from the SNP ahead of her show "Work in Progress" at the Edinburgh Fringe. "There have just been too many times when I've thought, 'I don't agree with what you've done there' or the decision or strategy that has been arrived at," she said in the Herald interview. Black said she was "still just as pro-independence," but claimed the party's "capitulation on LGBT rights, trans rights in particular" had been an issue for added: "I thought the party could be doing better about Palestine as well."The former MP said: "If anything, I'm probably a bit more left wing than I have been. I don't think I have changed all that much. I feel like the party needs to change a lot more."Black was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during her time at Westminster, saying previously that the condition was picked up after she became unwell with "burn-out" during her time as an SNP spokesperson said the party was "united under John Swinney's vision of creating a better, fairer Scotland".