Former Kampala Lord Mayor and People’s Front for Freedom President Erias Lukwago is being detained at Kira Divisional Police Headquarters, Kira Municipality, Wakiso District. On Wednesday, CDF General Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted that Lukwago would spend more than 10 years in jail. However, police sources indicated the suspect was being held at the Kira Road Police Division.
Lawyers led by Lubega Ssegona rushed there to check, but were told he was in Kira, Wakiso. They then proceeded to the Kira Police Division, where only one lawyer was allowed inside. Family members and journalists were denied entry to the station, which was under heavy security deployment.
Doreen Nyanjura, former Kampala Capital City Authority Deputy Lord Mayor, who was turned away at the police station, told Uganda Radio Network that officers said only the lawyer was allowed inside while the suspect recorded his statement.
“I told them I wanted to go inside and see my boss, but the officers told me only one person was allowed inside. They said they would allow the family and us at around 1 pm to see him,” Nyanjura said. It was unclear whether Lukwago would be taken to court after recording his statement or remain in custody.
Lukwago was abducted on Monday by security operatives in UPDF uniforms aboard minibuses commonly known as “drones”.According to his neighbors in Wakaliga, a Kampala suburb, the operatives cordoned off the road leading to Lukwago’s residence as early as 5:00 a.m. and searched every vehicle that passed.
Before his arrest, Lukwago was reportedly preparing to serve court summons papers to Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, requiring him to answer in the High Court a petition filed by Dr. Kizza Besigye and Hajji Obeid Lutale over alleged social media threats.
However, security operatives believed to be from the Special Forces Command – SFC, an elite UPDF unit, sealed off the residence, scaled the compound fence, and took Lukwago into custody without presenting any arrest warrant. His lawyers and family, led by Medard Lubega Ssegona and his wife Nalongo Zzawedde, condemned the operation as a violent, illegal arrest and a deliberate humiliation.
Since Monday, Lukwago’s family and lawyers from Lukwago & Co Advocates have been moving from one police station to another searching for his whereabouts, without success, as police and army officials have remained tight-lipped.
Although no official communication has been issued on his arrest, CDF Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba has been posting nonstop on X, formerly Twitter, releasing details about Lukwago’s detention and claiming he was holding him in a basement. At one point, Muhoozi released photos of a visibly distressed lawmaker, drawing condemnation from various individuals and institutions, including the Uganda Law Society-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
