KAMPALA
Police have dismissed reports that the government plans to charge exiled opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu with treason, saying the claims are unfounded.
The dismissal follow remarks by the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem, after he suggested that Kyagulanyi was awaiting treason charges over his comments made at a world leader summit 2026 in Geneva.
Addressing the Geneva summit for Human Rights and Democracy in Switzerland recently, Kyagulanyi called for sanctions against President Museveni and his son CDF Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba over alleged extrajudicial killings, illegal detentions and gross violations of human rights targeting opposition leaders and supporters in Uganda.
“We think the international community has abandoned and left us on our own. We are not asking for too much, we are only asking for targeted sanctions against Gen. Museveni and his son Muhoozi, and other top police and judicial officers who have blocked the justice system,” Kyagulanyi appealed
The summit made calls for Uganda’s Ambassador in Brussels to address international concerns about alleged political persecution by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government, which the Kampala government opposed.
“We won’t allow that,” Oryem warned, stating that the exiled NUP party president risks treason charges if he returns to Kampala.
But police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said no treason charges have been sanctioned against Kyagulanyi.
“As we speak today, there are no treason charges labelled against Kyagulanyi, but if they were to be there, it would be at this very forum that I would come and announce, just like the way I’ve been doing it before. So, at the moment, I do not have any extra brief or any brief about specific charges against him,” Kituuma said.
Robert Kyagulanyi has remained out of the public eye since the January 15 elections, and his exact whereabouts are still unknown.
Meanwhile, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the national army commander, has issued repeated threats against Kyagulanyi, as security forces continue to maintain a heavy deployment at his Magere home in Wakiso District since January 16.
