Concerns over alleged enforced disappearances have resurfaced after National Unity Platform (NUP) officials reported that prominent party activist and social media commentator Andrew Nabimanya, popularly known as NinyeTabz, was taken away by unidentified security operatives in Kampala on Wednesday evening.
According to NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya, Nabimanya was reportedly seized in Kamwokya by plainclothes operatives travelling in unmarked Toyota vans, commonly referred to by opposition supporters as “drones.”
Rubongoya condemned the incident, describing it as another example of what the opposition has repeatedly termed a pattern of unlawful arrests and detentions targeting government critics.
The reported disappearance of Nabimanya comes amid heightened political tensions and follows the recent arrest of opposition lawyer and People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) president Erias Lukwago. Lukwago was presented before police in Wakiso District on Wednesday, charged with misprision of treason, and subsequently remanded to Luzira Prison.
Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi also expressed concern over the incident, accusing security agencies of continuing to target opposition supporters through arrests carried out by unidentified operatives.
Nabimanya has gained prominence as an anti-corruption whistleblower, photojournalist, and vocal government critic.
In recent months, he has been involved in public disputes with several government officials, including State Minister for Local Government Justine Kasule Lumumba Nameere.
He has also used social media platforms to comment on high-profile political and governance issues.
The latest incident is likely to intensify debate over allegations of politically motivated arrests ahead of Uganda’s 2026 general elections. Opposition groups have long accused security agencies of carrying out secret detentions and abductions of activists and supporters, claims that have become a recurring feature of Uganda’s political landscape since the 2021 elections.
NUP maintains that thousands of its members have faced arrests, detention, or prosecution on politically related charges. The party argues that the trend has escalated as the country moves closer to the next presidential election.
Security agencies, however, have consistently rejected allegations of abductions. Both the police and the military maintain that individuals taken into custody are arrested through lawful procedures and on the basis of credible criminal or security-related investigations.
By Thursday evening, neither the police nor the military had publicly confirmed Nabimanya’s whereabouts, raising concerns among family members, colleagues, and human rights advocates who continue to demand information about his status and location.
The incident is expected to attract renewed scrutiny from civil society organizations and rights groups monitoring political freedoms and the conduct of security agencies in the run-up to the 2026 elections.