NSecurity Raids Miria Matembe’s Home, Husband Suspects Attempted AbductionSecurity operatives raided the home of former Ethics and Integrity Minister Miria Matembe in Luzira on Wednesday, searching the premises without identifying themselves or explaining their mission before leaving empty-handed, according to her husband, Nehemiah Matembe.
Mzee Nehemiah Matembe said he believes the operatives intended to arrest or abduct the outspoken former minister, who was away from home at the time of the raid. According to family members, the team comprised operatives in military uniform and plain clothes. Two women and one man in civilian attire entered the compound while two-armed soldiers remained outside the gate.
They reportedly arrived in what witnesses described as a moving of the infamous Toyota vehicle commonly known as the drone. Nehemeiah Matembe narrated that the operatives forced their way into the residence and conducted a thorough search without speaking to him or presenting any documentation.
“Two individuals accessed the premises through the kitchen, while another entered through the main door and remained on the balcony facing outward. They found me in the sitting room. I asked who they were and what they wanted, but they ignored me, searched the bedroom and bathroom, then returned. I continued asking questions, but they never responded,” he said.
He said the operatives searched every room as armed, masked colleague stood guard outside the compound. About 30 minutes later, they left without taking anything or explaining why they had come. Nehemiah said he was left shaken by the incident, insisting he is a retired civil servant with no criminal record or reason to warrant such an operation.
He added that his wife had left for the gym shortly before the raid and has since been unreachable, with her phones switched off. He said he was heading to the police to record a statement about the incident and questioned why security personnel would target a peaceful, law-abiding family. He said he suspects the operatives had come to violently abduct his wife.
Miria Matembe is a veteran politician, women’s rights advocate, and co-founder of the Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention. A former Ethics and Integrity Minister and one of the architects of Uganda’s 1995 Constitution, she has become one of the government’s most outspoken critics. She has consistently condemned alleged human rights abuses, enforced disappearances, and what she describes as state-sponsored targeting of opposition politicians and activists.
Matembe fell out with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) in 2003 after opposing the removal of presidential term limits. By press time, no security agency had issued a statement explaining the operation or commenting on the raid at her residence-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
