Uganda's army chief, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has caused an uproar after he bragged on social media about detaining a top opposition lawyer and vowing to inflict "hurt and pain" on him. The incident happened on Monday when military personnel stormed the home of Erias Lukwago, a former Kampala mayor and lead lawyer for detained opposition figure Kizza Besigye.
Lukwago was preparing to serve legal papers summoning General Kainerugaba over the alleged abduction of Besigye from Kenya in 2024. The army chief, who is the son of President Yoweri Museveni and has made no secret of his desire to succeed his father, took to X (formerly Twitter) to post photos of the detained lawyer.
In one post, Kainerugaba wrote to his 1.3 million followers: "I'm proud of ALL the hurt and pain I will inflict on the CRIMINAL LUKWAGO!" He also shared a photo of Lukwago wearing a white t-shirt and captioned it: "He keeps saying 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry'. It won't help him now." Another image showed a man with his face covered and hands together as if begging.
Earlier, the army chief had written that he had "captured a fool and taken him to the basement". In another post, he questioned: "he summoned me?? How do you DARE to utter those words", adding that "this fool will learn the lesson".
According to Lukwago's relatives, heavily armed soldiers jumped over the fence at his home in Wakaliga, Kampala, on Monday morning and violently bundled him into a van. "They didn't tell us where they're taking him," a relative told AFP. His wife, Zawedde Lubwama Lukwago, said the soldiers forced their way into the bedroom and grabbed him in front of the family, adding that the incident reminded her of the brutal days of dictator Idi Amin.
"My husband is a respected lawyer who has not committed any crime," she told journalists. Lukwago's lawyer, Medard Lubega Ssegona, described the operation as unlawful and said they would report a kidnapping case to police.
The Uganda Law Society has strongly condemned the arrest and demanded Lukwago's immediate release. The society's president, Isaac Ssemakadde, said the army chief's public statements and the military raid on Lukwago's home constituted "the highest act of intimidation, harassment and obstruction of a lawyer in the discharge of his professional duties".
Rights activist Agather Atuhaire said the incident showed the "impunity" enjoyed by the authorities. "Now we have a government that not only breaks the law, commits atrocities like those, but also gloats over them, boasts of committing them," she said.
This is not the first time Kainerugaba has been accused of targeting opposition figures. Last year, he posted about kidnapping opposition politician Bobi Wine's security chief, claiming to have used him "as a punching bag". Wine, who is now in exile and has received death threats from the army chief before, condemned Lukwago's "violent abduction".
Lukwago is the lead counsel for Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate who has been in detention facing treason charges since his abduction from Nairobi in November 2024. Besigye has not yet been tried, and his family has accused the Ugandan state of torturing him.
The opposition People's Front for Freedom (PFF) party said Lukwago was simply trying to do his job as a lawyer when he was taken. Party secretary general Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda told reporters: "We have every reason to believe that Muhoozi is the one who has ordered the kidnapping of Lukwago".
As of Monday evening, Lukwago's whereabouts remained unknown, and no charges had been announced against him.
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