Uganda’s Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi has told the BBC the government is investigating allegations that novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was tortured while he spent a month in custody.

“The person responsible will definitely be punished,” Mr Baryomunsi told BBC Focus on Africa radio.

“But it is not true, as the US alleges, that there is widespread torture in Uganda. That’s not true.

“We may have a policy of not supporting or condoning torture, but in society there are rogue elements.”

The award-winning writer was arrested in December and charged with offensive communication for making unflattering remarks about President Yoweri Museveni and his son on Twitter.

He was recently released on bail, but has since fled the country to seek medical treatment for his injuries.

The information minister dismissed a suggestion that freedom of speech was at peril in the East African nation.

“We have a very vibrant media space, where the government talks, and the opposition talks, even those who criticise government talk,” he said.

“They criticise the government, and they walk home without fear of anybody following. So it’s not true that people are scared in Uganda.”

On Rukirabashaija’s case the minister added: “He committed an offence, he was arraigned before court, but on his own volition he has decided to run away.

“And if he has run away, it doesn’t mean that he has been chased by the government.”