Gilbert Arinaitwe Bwana, a former police officer known for a controversial incident involving Dr. Kizza Besigye in 2011, has been charged and sent to Luzira prison on allegations of aggravated trafficking.
The 43-year-old Detective Superintendent of Police appeared before Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi at Buganda Road Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of aggravated trafficking in persons, as per the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009.
Arinaitwe’s lawyer has sought bail, arguing that the charges are bailable.
He emphasized that Arinaitwe is the primary provider for his young family and can provide three substantial sureties, including his mother Olive Bwana, police officer Sandy Nicholas, his cousin, and his friend Lukwiya John Patrick.
Magistrate Kayizzi postponed the bail ruling to August 18, keeping the suspect in remand until then.
The charge sheet presented by the prosecution, led by Ivan Kyazze, asserts that on June 23, 2023, Arinaitwe and others, still at large, engaged in actions involving a teenage girl in Nalumunye Bandwe, Kyengera Town Council, Wakiso district.
The acts involved recruiting, maintaining, confining, transporting, transferring, harboring, receiving, or facilitating the girl by using threats, force, coercion, deception, abuse of power, or vulnerability.
The purpose of these actions was alleged to be sexual exploitation, forced labor, involuntary servitude, or debt bondage.
The teenage girl’s police statement indicates that she reported being raped in a house owned by Arinaitwe in Nalumunye Village, Rubaga Division, Kampala City.
She claimed that the first rape occurred on July 25, followed by seven subsequent incidents, all accompanied by threats to deter her from reporting.
During this time, she was reportedly confined and provided minimal sustenance.
Arinaitwe’s legal history includes a previous arrest in 2017 for allegedly raping a teenage girl in his vehicle at Nakawa, a Kampala suburb.
This incident happened shortly after his redeployment to the Criminal Intelligence Department in April 2016, following a five-year suspension.
He had allegedly exchanged contact details with the girl at the CID headquarters, where she sought counseling for her academic-related issues.
Despite the 2017 accusation, Arinaitwe was not brought to court at the time.