15 days have passed since the arrest, unlawful detention and torture of the novelist, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija.

The writer was arrested on the 28th of December, 2021, in reaction to a series of tweets posted on his Twitter page two days after Christmas: Kainerugaba’s bankrolled crooks, patronised and bewitched– are all over social media selling rotting corpse as future president. Guys, chop his money. Fool is unsellable. No one in their sense of mind can support such a plump moustached pachydermatous inebriated curmudgeon.

The tweet received mixed reactions from Ugandans on Twitter. A good number attacked the writer, spewed hate on his wall, and voiced their support for the corrupt president of Uganda and his possible successor, Lt. Gen. Kainerugaba Muhoozi.

The Pen Prize winner, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, is no stranger to unlawful arrests and detention. On the 13th of April 2020, he was arrested at his home by officers of the Ugandian Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence. The author was tortured and subjected to degrading treatments by the officers for seven days. He was interrogated regarding the satirical content of his novel, The Greedy Barbarian.

On the 18th of September, 2020, the man was rearrested at his home by officers of the CMI. The bone of contention this time was his new book, Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous. The book details accounts and the horror of his first detention. He was released on the 21st of September, on a bond.

According to Charles Twine, spokesman for the Ugandan Police Criminal Investigation Department, the writer was arrested on the grounds of offensive communication and will be remanded until the 21^st of January, 2022.

While culinary memories of the New Year celebration marinated in our guts, Rukirabashaija was cuffed and taken to his home by officers of the military. During the searching and ransacking of their house, his wife said the writer whispered to her where he was being lodged and a summary of the VIP treatment his generous captors bequeathed on him, same treatment that left the man bleeding and heavily injured.

We join our voice with the voices of several others decrying this unfortunate event, and we demand the release of Rukirabashaija, that fearless warrior and beacon of truth.