Uganda Charges Five Critics of President Museveni and General Kainerugaba with Treason and Other Offenses

Ugandan security forces have unlawfully seized at least five critics of President Yoweri Museveni and General Muhoozi Kainerugaba since mid-June 2026, Human Rights Watch reported. The army also raided and laid siege to Nation Media Group, Uganda's largest independent media company, forcing it to cease operations.

On June 15 armed soldiers raided the Kampala home of lawyer Erias Lukwago, who was preparing to serve a legal summons on Kainerugaba.

Kainerugaba posted on X that he was holding Lukwago in a basement and shared a photograph appearing to show him blindfolded. Lukwago's son said his father was beaten during two days of incommunicado detention. On June 17 security officers took Lukwago to a police station on the outskirts of Kampala, where authorities charged him with treason-related offenses linked to Kizza Besigye's case and sent him to pretrial detention.

On June 22 authorities detained Kenyan lawyer Martha Karua at Entebbe International Airport as she arrived to observe Lukwago's court proceedings and deported her to Kenya several hours later. On June 26 journalist Timothy Kalyegira was arrested and driven in a UPDF Special Forces Command vehicle to a basement.

Three days later he was charged with operating digital news outlets without a license and released on bail.

On June 28 soldiers detained activist Miria Matembe in Kampala, held her in an unknown facility for two days, then charged her with promoting sectarianism and released her on bail. On July 11 armed soldiers seized Muwanga Kivumbi, deputy president of the National Unity Platform, near a roadblock on the outskirts of Kampala.