MISSING! Where Is Miria Matembe? – Family Raises Alarm After Security Raid

By Swift Reporter

Concern is mounting over the whereabouts of veteran politician and women’s rights activist Dr Miria Matembe after her family said she disappeared following a security raid on her home in Luzira earlier this week.

Relatives say they have been unable to reach the former Ethics and Integrity minister since security operatives searched her residence, raising fears that she may have been picked up while out on her routine morning jog.

Media personality JK Kazoora, a relative of Matembe, said the family suspects she may have encountered the operatives after leaving home for exercise.

“They went to her home in Luzira, but she was not there because she had gone jogging. We suspect they could have met her while jogging and taken her,” Kazoora said, appealing to anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact the family.

Her husband, Nehemiah Matembe, said the family has not heard from her since the raid.

“She has not returned since then. We don’t know where she is. Ever since the raid, we have not heard from her. We appeal to whoever has Matembe to release her to return home,” he said.

The development follows a security operation at Matembe’s lakeside residence in Luzira, where a team comprising uniformed soldiers and plain-clothed operatives reportedly searched the premises without identifying themselves or explaining the purpose of their visit.

According to Nehemiah Matembe, the group arrived in a Toyota vehicle commonly referred to locally as a “drone.” Two armed soldiers remained outside the compound while three operatives in civilian clothing entered the house and searched every room, including the bedroom and bathroom.

“They found me in the sitting room. I asked who they were and what they wanted, but they ignored me, searched the bedroom and bathroom, then returned. I continued asking questions, but they never responded,” he said.

The operatives reportedly left without making any arrests, taking any property or providing an explanation for the search.

The family believes the team intended to arrest Matembe but found she had already left home for her morning exercise. Her mobile phones later became unreachable.

The incident has sparked condemnation from women’s rights activists and civil society organisations, who accuse security agencies of disregarding due process.

Speaking during a Uganda Women’s Movement press conference held in solidarity with Matembe, human rights activist Dr Sarah Bireete said security personnel also raided her home after apparently suspecting she was hiding the former minister.

Bireete said the operatives searched her residence, stole money from her bag and even dug a hole in her son’s bedroom before leaving.

She described the raids as evidence of poor intelligence gathering and urged security agencies to use police summons where criminal wrongdoing is suspected instead of conducting raids.

Opposition figures have also condemned the operation.

Barbie Kyagulanyi, wife of National Unity Platform president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, expressed solidarity with Matembe and Bireete, describing the raids as part of a broader pattern of intimidation targeting women critical of the government.

“My heart goes out to Maama Dr Miria Matembe who is being hunted down and our sister Sarah Bireete who just got raided,” Kyagulanyi said.

“They have built a throne for fear to reign among us and when they raid our homes and strip our dignity bare, they think they will undress our courage. We condemn every act of cruelty being unleashed on Uganda’s daughters, women and mothers.”

She added that injustice would not prevail forever and praised women who continue to speak out despite intimidation.

Matembe, one of the architects of Uganda’s 1995 Constitution, served as Minister of Ethics and Integrity before falling out with the ruling National Resistance Movement in 2003 over her opposition to the removal of presidential term limits.

In recent years, she has become one of the government’s most outspoken critics, repeatedly condemning alleged human rights abuses, enforced disappearances and what she describes as the increasing militarisation of politics.

Her reported disappearance comes amid growing concern among human rights organisations and opposition politicians over alleged abductions and security operations targeting government critics ahead of the 2026 general elections.

By Saturday evening, security agencies had not issued an official statement regarding Matembe’s whereabouts or the purpose of the operation at her home.