Ugandan forces arrest lawyer of opposition figure facing treason charges, party says

NAIROBI - Ugandan security forces have arrested Erias Lukwago, a senior opposition figure and lawyer representing detained People's Front for Freedom party leader Kizza Besigye, who is on trial for treason, the PFF said on Monday.

Lukwago, formerly the mayor of the Ugandan capital Kampala, represents Besigye also in a related case, where he sued the country's military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba for repeatedly threatening his life on social media. Kainerugaba is the son of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni.

Lukwago was picked up at his home, the PFF party said in a post on the X platform.

"We wish to inform the general public ... that our executive chairman, counsel Erias Lukwago has been abducted by state operatives and taken to an unknown destination," PFF said.

Uganda's biggest opposition figure, pop singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who is in exile in the United States, said on X that soldiers acting on Kainerugaba's orders had seized Lukwago as he was preparing to serve a court summons to the military chief.

Reuters could not independently verify these claims. Spokespeople for the Ugandan military and police did not respond to Reuters' calls for comment.

Kainerugaba, well-known to Ugandans for his incendiary social media posts, has repeatedly threatened to kill Wine, the head of National Unity Platform - the biggest opposition party, who fled the country after losing a disputed presidential election in January.

On Monday, Kainerugaba vowed on X to arrest anyone who attempted to serve him court papers and said he had "captured a fool and taken him to the basement".

Later, he shared an image of a man resembling Erias Lukwago looking terrified, with the palms of his hands placed on his temples. In another post, he said he was "proud of all the hurt and pain" he would inflict on "the criminal Lukwago".

In May 2025, Kainerugaba had said he was holding a missing opposition official in his basement and threatened to castrate him.

(Reporting by Nairobi Newsroom; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Milla Nissi-Prussak)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 11:51 AM.