NUP under siege: arrests rock opposition party

When Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro walked into Kawempe Chief Magistrate’s court last week, it was not as a suspect but as a surety for his colleague, Eddie Mutwe.

Minutes later, the National Unity Platform (NUP) deputy spokesperson was in handcuffs, facing charges that have ignited fresh debate about Uganda’s democracy, the law and the future of opposition politics.

A CASE BUILT ON “UNLAWFUL DRILLING”

On September 10, 2025, prosecutors accused Mufumbiro and fellow party member Sauda Madada of conducting military-style drills at NUP’s offices in Makerere-Kavule without ministerial approval.

The pair now joins seven other NUP figures already held at Luzira prison on the same charges. The alleged offenses date back to February 12, when the state claims the group engaged in activities resembling military training. To the government, it was a breach of the Penal Code. To the opposition, it is another chapter in a long playbook of political persecution.

“I am being charged for offenses I didn’t commit,” Mufumbiro told reporters from the court cells.

“They’re on a fishing expedition. I’m only here to waste the court’s time. Courts are already overwhelmed with backlogs—why add baseless cases?” Mufumbiro went further, suggesting his arrest was engineered by a political rival, former MP Michael Kabaziguruka.

“He’s a security operative, and he knows exactly what’s happening,” Mufumbiro alleged. Kabaziguruka dismissed the claims outright.

“I find his comments ridiculous. He knows who arrested him. Let’s be mature and focus on what matters,” he shot back.

THE PARTY’S DEFENSE

Inside NUP, the arrests have been framed as part of a broader effort to weaken the movement ahead of the 2026 elections. Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya insists Mufumbiro was not even present at the party offices on the day in question.

“He was at the hospital with his wife,” Rubongoya said.

“If the state insists otherwise, let them produce a single photo or video. What our comrades were doing was singing songs and light physical exercises; you cannot call that military training.” Leader of the opposition Joel Ssenyonyi was more blunt.

“This is persecution. It happens repeatedly. They want to demobilize our movement,” he said, likening the case to the arrest of Bobi Wine’s campaign team in 2020.

He also ridiculed the law itself: “If a minister must approve every drill, what about school scouts, marching bands, or church parades? Should they all seek approval too?”

ANALYSTS SEE A PATTERN

Legal and political analysts see the arrests as part of a familiar cycle. Senior counsel Peter Walubiri argued the crackdown is about cementing President Yoweri Museveni’s hold on power and smoothing a path for his son’s succession.

“They will do everything, arrests, intimidation, violence, to stifle not just NUP but any opposition, even within NRM,” he said.

Makerere University’s Mwambutsya Ndebesa questioned the state’s selective enforcement: “I’ve seen people parade in real military uniforms before the president without consequence. Peace isn’t just the absence of conflict; it’s equal treatment. Selective justice breeds unrest.”

Godber Tumushabe of the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies said the pattern is clear.

“Every election since 2000 has seen violence. NUP’s youth mobilization terrifies the regime. They have guns; NUP has red shirts. But the government reacts as if under siege.”

A POLITICAL CLIMATE ON EDGE

For now, Mufumbiro remains behind bars, a symbol of both defiance and vulnerability. The case against him may rest on shaky evidence, but its political weight is undeniable.

As Uganda edges toward 2026, the arrests highlight a system where opposition politics often meets the blunt force of state power. Whether framed as law enforcement or persecution, the prosecutions underscore a sobering reality: the country’s political space is tightening, and the courts have become another arena where that struggle plays out.

Or as Ssenyonyi put it: “Every time you arrest us, we grow stronger. But the question remains: at what cost to Uganda’s democracy?”