A high-profile political crackdown in Uganda has drawn sharp international condemnation after a prominent opposition-aligned lawyer and former mayor was arrested from his private residence and charged with a treason-related offense linked to his representation of jailed dissident leader Kizza Besigye.
Erias Lukwago, who currently serves as lead legal counsel for Besigye — a veteran opposition figure standing trial on multiple treason counts — made his first public appearance at a magistrate’s court in Kampala this week. Local journalists covering the hearing reported that Lukwago appeared visibly physically weakened, just days after security forces seized him from his home early Monday.
During the court proceeding, Lukwaga formally entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of failure to report alleged treasonous activity. The magistrate ordered him remanded in state custody until next week, when the next phase of his case will convene.
The arrest immediately sparked backlash over its open ties to Uganda’s most senior military officer: Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the country’s Chief of Defence Forces and son of long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni. The general publicly took credit for the operation on his social media channels, even posting graphic content that stoked further outrage.
Among the posts shared by Kainerugaba was a photo appearing to show a blindfolded Lukwago held in an undisclosed location. In a separate, unapologetic message, the general wrote, “I’m proud of all the hurt and pain I will inflict on the criminal Lukwago!”
Opposition leader Bobi Wine, who fled Uganda in 2021 after contesting the presidential election over threats to his life, has alleged the arrest was ordered directly by Kainerugaba to stop Lukwago from formally serving the general with a court summons. In a post to X calling for collective action, Wine wrote: “I call upon all of us to reject and resist this brazen impunity.”
Before Lukwago’s court appearance, his family had filed a legal petition seeking a court order to force security forces to disclose his location and release him. The family’s legal team accused authorities of abducting Lukwago, and noted that Kainerugaba had already publicly claimed responsibility for the seizure and the mistreatment his client had faced.
This incident is far from the first time Kainerugaba has drawn controversy for incendiary social media posts. The general has a documented history of inflammatory remarks, including past boasts of abducting and torturing opposition political figures, with many of his controversial posts eventually taken down after public outcry.
Lukwago’s legal work centers on Besigye, Uganda’s most high-profile opposition dissident who was abducted from neighboring Kenya in late 2024 and forcibly returned to Uganda to face treason charges. Besigye’s political history with Museveni stretches back decades: he once served as Museveni’s personal physician before splitting from the ruling establishment in 1999, and has challenged Museveni for the presidency in multiple elections, facing repeated detentions over the years.