Remanded Ex-CID Spokesperson ‘Twine’ Says Social Media Accounts Were Hacked to Frame Me

Former Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) spokesperson Charles Mansio Twine, who is currently on remand at Luzira Prison, has claimed that his social media accounts were hacked and used to falsely link him to messages targeting top government officials, including President Yoweri Museveni and General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Twine, who most recently served as Officer in Charge of Investigations at Parliament, is facing a raft of serious charges alongside Noah Mitala, also known as Noah or Nuwa Mutwe—an aide and bodyguard to opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine.

The two were arraigned before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court last week. The charges stem from social media communications allegedly made between January 2024 and May 2025.

According to the charge sheet presented by state prosecutors, Twine is facing eight criminal counts. These include incitement to violence.

Prosecution alleges that Twine used electronic communication to incite Noah Mutwe to “attack and cause the death of the President of the Republic of Uganda and General Muhoozi Kainerugaba” based on political differences.

He also faces hate speech charges under Section 26 of the Computer Misuse Act. The state accuses Twine of disseminating inflammatory statements about the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Anita Annet Among, calling her “a rotten human being and the chief sponsor of killings in Bukedea District.”

Twine is further accused under Section 28 of the same Act of using a computer to share malicious information targeting the Speaker.

Other controversial remarks attributed to him include referring to Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa as “a money launderer, a masquerader, and a fraudster,” describing Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba as “a fat pig and a crook,” and labelling Gen. James Birungi “a crook and a killer.”

He is also accused of spreading tribal hatred by reportedly stating that “the Bahima are killers,” a statement prosecutors argue was intended to incite hostility against the Bahima ethnic group.

The final count involves a conspiracy charge, where Twine and Mutwe are accused of jointly plotting to incite violence against President Museveni and Gen. Muhoozi.

Speaking from Luzira Prison on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Twine gave an exclusive account to journalist Andrew Irumba, insisting that he is innocent and suggested that the charges were politically motivated and orchestrated by individuals he once investigated for cybercrime.

“I, D-ASP Charles Twine, with all my years in service, to commit such crimes? I have to be mad first before I commit them,” Twine said, visibly frustrated. “The IGP and investigators should have done better. I wanted to be polite, but this is unfair.”

Twine said he stopped using Facebook in 2020 after President Museveni, the Commander-in-Chief, issued a ban on the platform. He argued that he has never returned to Facebook since the ban and that someone hacked into his dormant account to fabricate incriminating messages.

“They hacked it and used it to send inbox messages—about 10—to Mutwe via Messenger to link me to him,” Twine claimed. “But in all those messages, Mutwe didn’t respond once. So, how is that a conversation?”

Twine further alleged that individuals behind the hacking are “city serial hackers” he once pursued and prosecuted during his time as CID spokesperson.

He said the same hackers are now being used by “elements within the state” to retaliate against him for his past investigative work.

“They’ve now posted the same messages on my Twitter. The very people I used to hunt down for cybercrime are the same ones being used to destroy me,” he added. “I was doing my job to protect state interests, now the state is using criminals to come after me.”

Twine’s arrest followed his disappearance after reportedly defying a summons by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to cut short an official assignment in Mbarara. He was eventually located and arraigned in court alongside Mutwe.

His transfer from CID spokesperson to Parliament investigations in late 2023 raised eyebrows within policing circles, but no official explanation was given at the time.

Twine and Mutwe remain on remand as investigations continue. Their legal teams are expected to apply for bail in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Twine insists he is a victim of a well-orchestrated smear campaign and has called on authorities to conduct a forensic audit of his accounts.

“I have nothing to hide. Let them bring digital experts. Let the truth come out,” he said.

Court proceedings are set to resume next week.