The continued detention of the catholic priest Rev. Father Deusdedit Ssekabira by the Ugandan military-UPDF has sparked a legal a debate with different legal minds castigating the act as a clear violation of Uganda’s constitutional and legal safeguards on arrest and detention.
Rev. Father Ssekabira who is under Masaka catholic diocese was kidnapped from his NGO office in Maska by men in Uganda Army uniform on 3rd December, and taken to un disclosed location according to the diocese priest Bishop Serverus Jjumba who confirmed in the Saturday 13 December statement.
Before his statement, the detainee’s whereabout remained unknown for about two weeks, until Sunday 14 December when in a brief statement, the acting UPDF director for defence and public information Col Chris Magezi confirmed that Father Ssekabira was in “lawful custody” of the military, following his arrest over his involvement into violent subversive activities against the state, and he was due to be presented before court.
However, the catholic priest’s continued detention to several legal advocates is an affront to the rule of law and constitutionalism.
The Uganda Law Society president Isaac Ssemakadde questioned the military statement, saying the document was raising more constitutional questions than it answers.
“A press statement that announces arrest, imputes guilt, and speaks of ‘violent subversive activities’ before any charge is presented in court offends the presumption of innocence guaranteed under Article 28 of the Constitution. Security agencies are not courts of law,and press releases are not charge sheets” Ssemakadde stated.
Counsel Ssemakadde noted that if the state had evidence, the lawful path was simple: produce the suspect before an independent court within the constitutionally prescribed time, prefer clear charges, and allow the judicial process to speak.
“Anything else amounts to trial by press conference, which is alien to constitutionalism and dangerous in a society governed by the rule of law”.
According to the Uganda Law Society president, the UPDF, like all state organs, is bound by the Constitution, and therefore Its public communication must reflect restraint, legality, and respect for due process.
“The legitimacy of state power is not demonstrated by arrests, but by fidelity to the law”.
Premising his response on Col. Magezi’s quote of “lawful custody”, Jude Byamukama, another human rights lawyer labored to explain the meaning of a lawful custody, describing it as detention in gazetted place where the detained can access a lawyer and relatives.
To Byamukama, detention should normally be observed within the limits of the 48-hour rule as set out by the constitution. “Detention not exceeding 48 hours, he was abducted on 3rd December 2025” Byamukama wondered!
The human rights NGO Chapter Four Uganda also shared insights in the statement, calling the manner of arrest and continued detention a breach to several fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the 1995 Constitution.
“For instance, under Article 23 of the Constitution, the right to personal liberty requires that any person arrested be informed immediately of the reasons for their arrest and mandates that they be produced before a competent court within 48 hours”, reads part of the statement.
The catholic priest continued detention leaves a lot to be desired. What now awaits is when he will be arraigned by the state before court for commencement of his trial.
