proud of all the hurt and pain I will inflict
In Kampala, a lawyer named Erias Lukwago appeared before a magistrate court visibly diminished — arrested at home, charged with failing to report treason, and remanded into custody while defending a man already imprisoned for the same accusation. What distinguished this moment from ordinary legal proceedings was the public declaration of a military general, the president's own son, who claimed credit for the arrest on social media and posted photographs of Lukwago blindfolded, promising further suffering. When the machinery of state and the voice of power converge openly against those who practice law on behalf of the accused, the question being asked is no longer about one man's guilt — it is about whether the law itself retains any shelter for those who stand beneath it.
- A prominent opposition lawyer appeared in court gaunt and weakened after days in undisclosed detention, his family filing an emergency petition demanding to know his whereabouts — 'dead or alive.'
- Uganda's military chief, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba — the president's son — publicly boasted on social media of causing 'hurt and pain' to Lukwago, posting blindfolded photographs and threatening further mistreatment with apparent impunity.
- Opposition figures allege the arrest was deliberately timed to prevent Lukwago from serving the general himself with a court summons, turning the act of legal representation into the grounds for prosecution.
- The case has ignited international alarm: exiled opposition leader Bobi Wine called it brazen impunity, while legal observers warn it signals a coordinated effort to strip political detainees of any meaningful defense.
- With the general facing no investigation despite publicly documenting his own role, the episode exposes a widening gap between Uganda's formal legal structures and the raw exercise of military authority.
Erias Lukwago arrived at a Kampala magistrate court looking hollowed out. Arrested at his home days earlier, the former mayor and defense lawyer had visibly deteriorated by the time he stood before the judge. He denied charges of failing to report treason and was remanded into custody to await his next hearing.
What set the arrest apart was not the charge but what followed it. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba — Uganda's military chief and President Museveni's son — took to social media to claim personal credit, posting photographs that appeared to show Lukwago blindfolded in an undisclosed location and writing that he was proud of the hurt and pain he intended to inflict. The general has a documented history of such posts, some later deleted, in which he has boasted of abducting and mistreating opposition figures.
Lukwago's family went to court in emergency, petitioning a judge to compel security forces to disclose where he was being held and to produce him — alive or dead. The starkness of that language reflected the starkness of the situation: a senior military official was publicly claiming a disappearance as his own achievement while the man remained in state custody.
Opposition figures alleged the timing was deliberate — that Lukwago had been arrested precisely because he was preparing to serve the general with a court summons, punished, in effect, for doing his job. That job was defending Kizza Besigye, a longtime Museveni opponent held on treason charges since late 2024 after being abducted in Kenya and forcibly returned to Uganda. Besigye once served as Museveni's personal physician before breaking with him in 1999 and has faced detention across multiple presidential campaigns.
The sequence leaves a question suspended over Uganda's legal order: when a lawyer defending a political prisoner can be arrested, publicly threatened by a named military official, and held without that official facing any consequence, the protection the law claims to offer begins to look like a formality rather than a fact.
Erias Lukwago walked into a magistrate's court in Kampala looking hollowed out. The former mayor and lawyer had been arrested at his home days earlier, and by the time he appeared before the judge, witnesses said his physical condition had visibly deteriorated. He faced charges of failing to report treason—a charge he denied—and was ordered back into custody pending his next hearing.
What made Lukwago's arrest extraordinary was not the charge itself but what happened afterward. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda's military chief and the president's son, took to social media to claim credit for the seizure. He posted photographs that appeared to show Lukwago blindfolded in an undisclosed location. In another post, Kainerugaba wrote that he was proud of the hurt and pain he would inflict on what he called the criminal Lukwago. The general has a documented pattern of such posts—some later deleted—in which he has boasted of abducting and torturing opposition figures.
Lukwago's family responded by going to court themselves, filing an emergency petition that asked a judge to compel security officers to reveal where he was being held and to release him, whether alive or dead. The family's language was stark because the circumstances were stark: a senior military official was publicly claiming responsibility for a disappearance and threatening further harm, all while the detainee remained in state custody.
The arrest became a flashpoint for Uganda's opposition. Bobi Wine, a musician and opposition politician who fled the country after contesting January's presidential election, posted a call for resistance to what he described as brazen impunity. Wine alleged that Lukwago had been arrested on Kainerugaba's orders precisely because he was preparing to serve the general with a court summons—in other words, because he was doing his job as a lawyer.
That job was defending Kizza Besigye, a long-standing opponent of President Yoweri Museveni who has been held on treason charges since late 2024. Besigye was abducted in neighboring Kenya and forcibly returned to Uganda, where he now faces trial. He once served as Museveni's personal physician before breaking with him in 1999, and has run against him in multiple presidential elections, each time facing detention. Now, the man representing him in court has himself been charged with a treason-related offense and is sitting in a cell.
The sequence of events raises a question that goes to the heart of how justice functions in Uganda: if a lawyer defending a political prisoner can be arrested, charged, and publicly threatened by the military without apparent legal consequence, what protection does the law actually offer to anyone challenging the government? Lukwago's case is not isolated—it is part of a pattern. But it is also unusually brazen, because the threat came not from anonymous security forces but from a named official who documented his own actions on social media and faced no immediate arrest or investigation himself.
Citas Notables
I'm proud of all the hurt and pain I will inflict on the criminal Lukwago— Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda's military chief, on social media
I call upon all of us to reject and resist this brazen impunity— Bobi Wine, Ugandan opposition politician, on X
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why would a military chief publicly claim responsibility for an arrest? Isn't that the kind of thing officials usually deny?
It suggests he doesn't believe there will be consequences. If you're confident the system won't hold you accountable, you can afford to be honest about what you've done.
And Lukwago was preparing to serve Kainerugaba with a court summons?
That's what the opposition is saying—that he was doing legal work on behalf of his client when he was taken. So the arrest looks like retaliation for attempting to use the courts.
What does it mean that his family asked for his body to be returned dead or alive?
It means they didn't know if he was alive. That's the fear when someone disappears into state custody without clear charges or location. You're asking the court to at least confirm whether he survived.
Is Besigye, the man Lukwago was defending, still in prison?
Yes. He's been held on treason charges since being brought back from Kenya. Now his lawyer is also in prison on a related charge. It's a way of isolating a political prisoner from legal representation.
Has Kainerugaba faced any investigation for posting those photos and threats?
Not that's been reported. That's the impunity part. He can post photos of a blindfolded detainee and threaten him further, and the system doesn't move against him.