The Attorney General has said that the missing Rwandan National Benjamin Rutabana is not in their custody.
This was revealed by Brian Musota the Principal State Attorney from the Attorney General’s chambers while appearing before High Court Judge Esta Nambayo.
Musota was responding to a court order issued on February 19th that directed the Attorney General and five others to produce Rutabana dead or alive following an application that had been filed by his lawyers.
The others are the Director Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence CMI, Director Internal Security Organization -ISO, Inspector General of Police, IGP, Director Criminal Investigations Department-CID and the Commandant Special Investigations Bureau-SIB.
He told court that the various heads of security agencies have never arrested Rutabana and they had done thorough investigations under all the detention facilities in their control and found that he is not known there.
Musota asked court to close the Rutabana file adding that each party should bear its own costs.
Rutabana’s lawyer Dr David Mushabe also agreed with Musota and said that he was grateful that the security agencies had complied with the court order.
Mushabe says that as a lawyer he has done his part and advised that Rutabana should now be produced using diplomatic channels between the two states Rwanda and Uganda.
Trouble for Rutabana started on September 8th, 2019 when he was reportedly arrested by plain-clothed operatives who identified themselves to be working with ISO and CMI before taking him to Mbuya CMI Headquarters.
According to the affidavit of Kenneth Munungu, one of his lawyers, the family of Rutabana wrote to the French Embassy and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kuteesa on October 28, 2019, demanding them to intervene in the matter but in vain.
Rutabana is believed to have landed at Entebbe International Airport from Belgium but there is no any other record of him leaving the country and has not been in communication with his family.
The News Editor ,Reporter at Kagadi Kibaale community Radio