Growing Political Unrest in Uganda as Dissidents Face Trial and Power Consolidates
KAMPALA — The trials of two prominent Ugandan government critics resumed on Tuesday, as President Yoweri Museveni remains silent while his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, leads a widening crackdown on dissent.
Kainerugaba, 52, the head of the army and heir apparent to the 81-year-old president who has ruled for four decades, has ordered the arrest of leading activists and politicians in recent weeks. Over the weekend, he shut down the country’s main independent media group, which runs the Daily Monitor newspaper and NTV station, declaring: “I DO NOT believe in a free press!”
On Tuesday, the Kampala court heard long-standing treason charges against opposition leader Kizza Besigye, 70, who was detained in 2024 after his abduction from Kenya. A separate case was filed against Besigye’s lawyer, Erias Lukwago, who was arrested earlier this month on Kainerugaba’s orders. The general wrote on X after Lukwago’s detention: “I’m proud of ALL the hurt and pain I will inflict on the CRIMINAL LUKWAGO!”
Besigye, who has run against Museveni multiple times, has been held without trial and reportedly tortured. His family has raised concerns about his health.
Growing Influence
Kainerugaba, who has often boasted about abducting and torturing opponents, has become the dominant force in Ugandan politics, analysts say. He runs his own political movement, the Patriotic League of Uganda, and has repeatedly stated his intention to succeed his father.
“For the first time we are seeing him being able to demonstrate power without any form of restraint from the father,” said Gerald Walulya, senior lecturer at Makerere University. President Museveni, who won a seventh term in office less than six months ago, has made no public comment on his son’s actions.
The crackdown has also targeted rights groups, including Agora, which was summoned to appear before police on Tuesday over allegations of fraud and money laundering. Much of the Ugandan opposition has been neutralised. Singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, Museveni’s main rival in recent elections, fled the country after Kainerugaba threatened to hunt him down and behead him.
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