Uganda Army Chief Orders Detention of Opposition Lawyer After Attempt to Serve Court Papers

Armed soldiers took Erias Lukwago from his house in Kampala on Monday after he attempted to serve court papers on Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The detention was ordered by Kainerugaba, Uganda’s army chief and the eldest son of President Yoweri Museveni.

He later posted photos of a blindfolded Lukwago appearing to beg for mercy. Lukwago is the former mayor of Kampala, president of the People’s Front for Freedom opposition group, and attorney for Kizza Besigye. Besigye faces treason charges and was abducted in Nairobi in November 2024.

Before his arrest, Lukwago told reporters he had been trying to hold Kainerugaba accountable for alleged violations of Besigye’s rights, including the Nairobi abduction and subsequent jailing without bail in Uganda. Kainerugaba has threatened to hang Besigye, accusing him of plotting to kill Museveni.

The Uganda Law Society demanded Lukwago’s immediate release, stating that his arrest was contemptuous of court processes.

Lukwago’s wife, Zawedde Lukwago, told reporters that the arrest evoked the dictatorship of Idi Amin, whose rule in the 1970s resulted in between 100,000 and 500,000 people killed according to Human Rights Watch. “If he thinks he will be our next leader and will rule us like this, already we are saying no,” she said, referring to Kainerugaba.

Museveni was sworn in for a seventh term in May and is 81 years old.