By KT Reporter
One of the four previously missing leaders of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), John Mary Ssebuwufu, has been charged with inciting violence and remanded to Luzira Prison.
Ssebuwufu, 50, identified on the charge sheet as the NUP Vice President for the Buganda Region and a resident of Nakawa, was on Friday arraigned before Grade One Magistrate Sanula Namboozo, where he denied a single count of incitement to violence.
Prosecution alleges that between November and December 2025, at various locations in Kampala, Mukono, Masaka and Mpigi, Ssebuwufu incited members of the public to commit acts of violence, namely attacking supporters of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), on account of their political affiliation.
State Attorney Mahatima Odongo told the court that investigations are still ongoing. Ssebuwufu’s legal team, led by Jonathan Elotu, the head of NUP’s Legal Department, alongside Kakuru Tumusiime and John Paul Kakande, attempted to apply for bail.
The lawyers informed the court that their client was arrested on January 14, 2026, on the eve of the presidential and parliamentary elections, and had been held in detention for three weeks.
They further revealed that they had filed an application seeking orders compelling security agencies to produce Ssebuwufu in court, “dead or alive.” However, they said the application was overtaken by events after he was produced in court on Friday. The defence added that a ruling on the habeas corpus application had been expected on the same day.
Magistrate Namboozo declined to hear the bail application, stating that the defence had not presented evidence of the habeas corpus file. She also cited a prior engagement later in the day, saying she was unable to entertain the bail hearing. Ssebuwufu, who recently won the Nakawa LCV seat, was advised to apply for bail on February 17, 2026, when he returns to Court from Prison.
In the run-up to and aftermath of the general elections, several NUP leaders were arrested and held incommunicado. The government and the army repeatedly denied knowledge of their whereabouts until they were produced in various courts across the country on Friday.
Those produced included Dr Lina Zedriga, NUP Vice President for Northern Uganda; Jolly Jacqueline Tukamushaba, Vice President for Western Region; and Bright Muhumuza, the Mbarara-based Regional Coordinator. All three have since been remanded by different courts on similar charges of inciting violence.
Their cases add to a growing list of dozens of NUP supporters arrested during the election period, many of whom remain detained in various prisons across the country after unsuccessful attempts to secure bail.
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