The Masaka Catholic Diocese has petitioned the Masaka High Court, seeking the immediate and unconditional release of one of its priests, who has been missing for over a week.
Reverend Father Deusdedit Ssekabira, the former Masaka Diocesan Youth Chaplain and currently an assistant priest at Bumangi Parish in Kalangala District, reportedly disappeared after he was allegedly abducted by security operatives under unclear circumstances.
Through their lawyer, Alexander Lule Nkima, the Diocese filed an application seeking a court order compelling state security agencies—believed to be the only suspected captors—to produce Father Ssekabira before the court, in whatever condition he may be.
According to Lule, eyewitnesses indicated that Father Ssekabira was arrested by armed men dressed in Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) uniforms.
The soldiers allegedly picked him up from his office in Katwe Ward, Masaka City, last Wednesday before driving away with him.
Since then, Father Ssekabira’s whereabouts have remained unknown to both his relatives and colleagues.
Lule explains that after unsuccessfully tracing the priest through several detention centres, the Diocese resolved to file a case, asking the court to compel the state to account for him.
The Bishop of Masaka Diocese, the Right Reverend Serverus Jjumba, in a public statement issued on Saturday from Our Lady of Sorrows Cathedral in Kitovu, Masaka City, declared three days of special prayers dedicated to the missing priest. He also appeals to state security agencies to release him.
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