According to court records, Lukwiya remained at Nalufenya from July 3 to July 19, 2015, before being taken back to Kenya, where he was eventually released unconditionally after charges against him were dropped on September 11, 2015.
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The High Court in Kampala has awarded sh10m in compensation to Malcolm Lukwiya after finding that Ugandan security agencies unlawfully detained him for 16 days at Nalufenya Police Station without producing him before a court, in violation of his constitutional right to personal liberty.
In a judgment delivered on June 18, 2026, Justice Bernard Namanya ruled that the Attorney General, representing the government, was vicariously liable for the actions of police officers involved in Lukwiya’s prolonged detention.
Lukwiya had sued the Attorney General over events that occurred in 2015, claiming he was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 1 by a joint team of Ugandan and Kenyan security operatives before being secretly transferred to Nalufenya Police Station in Jinja.
He alleged that while in detention, he was subjected to torture, isolated from family members, interrogated over suspected links to terrorist groups operating in Somalia, South Sudan and northern Tanzania, and later returned to Kenya without undergoing formal immigration procedures.
According to court records, Lukwiya remained at Nalufenya from July 3 to July 19, 2015, before being taken back to Kenya, where he was eventually released unconditionally after charges against him were dropped on September 11, 2015.
Lukwiya also told court that newspaper reports linking him to terrorism and the murder of Sheikh Hassan Kirya caused him significant embarrassment and social stigma.
His father, Webster Lukwiya, testified that he only learned of his son’s arrest after receiving a telephone call and was unable to locate him despite making inquiries with authorities in both Uganda and Kenya.
He further told court that his son, who was 17 years old at the time, returned with bruises, back pain and signs of psychological distress that ultimately forced him to abandon his studies.
However, Justice Namanya dismissed Lukwiya’s claims of torture and extra-judicial rendition, citing insufficient evidence.
The judge noted that although Lukwiya alleged he had been assaulted and subjected to degrading treatment while in custody, he failed to provide medical reports or expert testimony to substantiate the claims.
On the allegation that he had been unlawfully transferred from Kenya to Uganda, the court held that the evidence presented was insufficient to conclusively establish that an illegal cross-border operation had taken place.
Nonetheless, the court found overwhelming evidence that Lukwiya had been held at Nalufenya for approximately 16 days without appearing before a judge.
Justice Namanya said the detention violated Article 23 of the Constitution, which requires that any arrested person be produced before a competent court within 48 hours.
“The defendant adduced no evidence to justify such detention or to show that the plaintiff was lawfully held pursuant to any recognised judicial order or legal process in Uganda,” the judge stated.
The court consequently declared that Lukwiya’s detention beyond the constitutionally permitted 48 hours was unlawful and ordered the Attorney General to pay him sh10m in compensation, in addition to meeting the costs of the suit.
The judgment was delivered electronically and through the Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS).
