Government has received a list of people alleged to be held incommunicado and is following up on the matter, Government Chief Whip Jane Ruth Aceng has said, as legislators renewed calls for security agencies to account for their whereabouts.
Aceng said the list, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition following a request from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, had been forwarded to the ministry for follow up.
Her disclosure followed a call by Jinja South Division East MP Paul Mwiru during plenary on Tuesday, 29 September 2026 for Government to intervene over the alleged detention of Baba TV journalist Eria Jjengo and other people he said had been held without being produced in court.
“Security forces picked Eria Jjengo, an employee of Baba TV, from their workplace. They have held him incommunicado up to date. He has not been produced in the courts of law,” Mwiru said.
Jjengo’s disappearance had earlier been reported to Kira Road Police Station, while the Uganda Journalists Association and Baba TV called for investigations into his whereabouts.
Mwiru said Jjengo was among several people whose cases had been raised in Parliament.
He asked Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth to engage government on what he described as a practice of holding people without producing them before court.
Hon. Aceng, however, said government had already begun following up on the names previously raised by the Opposition.
“Shortly before we broke off for recess, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs, had written to the Leader of Opposition, requesting for the names of the people that you have been raising here, that they are being held incommunicado,” Aceng said.
She said the Leader of the Opposition had responded with the names, which she subsequently submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“I submitted those names to Ministry of Internal Affairs, and they are preparing to come and respond. So in addition to the one that you have raised today, I will also submit those names,” she said.
Second Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business Hon. Crispus Kiyonga said government would work with Hon. Mwiru to establish the facts surrounding the allegations.
“I welcome his invitation that we should get together, get details, and take appropriate action,” Kiyonga said.
Speaker Oboth welcomed the government response, saying it represented the kind of engagement between Parliament and the Executive that MPs expect.
“That is the government we all want,” Oboth said, responding to the Chief Whip’s undertaking to follow up the cases.
