Internal Affairs Senior Minister Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire has confirmed that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has picked interest in and directed him to lead investigations into allegations that there is a group of people including police officers involved in and facilitating human trafficking of desperate Ugandans.

Otafiire revealed that investigations will be expanded not only to police officers but other Ugandans especially politicians since preliminary investigation have shown that they are the biggest beneficiaries from the vice.

Highly placed Security sources told theGrapevine that Museveni was briefed that a number of people connive with police officers who fake their arrests, undress and handcuff them and place them in police cells where they take their photos and record them on video crying for help.

This is presented as evidence of torture from Museveni’s government because of their support for the opposition.

Sources divulged that police officers not only stop at faking arrests and detention, they also fake police references and police bond papers showing that the said person has pending criminal charges in Uganda.

After getting police support, the said Ugandans connive with the opposition political parties especially National Unity Platform (NUP) who give them recommendation letters after paying some money which they use as evidence when they are applying for visas and other travel documents to go and seek political asylum in European countries, America and Canada among others.

Museveni was briefed that currently, Uganda is one of the leading countries when it comes to people asking for asylum based on hostile politics back home.

“The situation these police officers created in connivance with asylum seekers placed President Museveni’s government in bad light because it shows that Ugandans are not happy with his leadership and he is using a high hand to lead them,” a source said.

Maj. Gen. Otafiire also confirmed that human trafficking of Ugandans gives Uganda a bad name on the international scene and it is going to become very difficult for serious Ugandans who want to travel abroad for education, medication, research to be given documents to travel in those countries because of fears that they will disappear in those countries.

During the briefing, Museveni was given a detailed report narrating how former CBS radio presenter and comedian Patrick Mujuuka connived with police officers to get documents he used to secure a visa that helped him to go to the United States of America.

Sources claim that Museveni was told that Mujuuka alleged that his life was in danger because Museveni’s government wanted to finish him for being a staunch supporter who uses his radio position to promote National Unity Platform (NUP) and former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine).

“The explanation and documents helped him to get an interim stay in the United States and he is getting good money through doing a number of jobs,” a source said.

However, other sources at CBS radio said that Mujuuka decided to run to the United States because his job at CBS was threatened so he had to plan early before being fired permanently.

The issue of trafficking Ugandans comes at a time when former NUP Chief moblizer Sulaiman Kidandala is holed up in South Korea facing charges of trafficking Ugandans into South Korea.

If convicted, he is likely to be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

There is also a group of concerned citizens who petitioned the Canadian Premier Justine Trudeau to review the application filed by Ugandans who seek asylum based on political persecution claiming that many of the applications were based on false grounds.

Senior presidential advisor on media Joseph Tamale Mirundi also twisted the issue of human trafficking revealing that majority of Ugandans taken for greener pastures are sold to business people in different countries so that their internal organs are harvested and sold at a high price.

He revealed that Museveni is also investigating allegations that powerful people in his government in involved.

He explained that Museveni is going to be very tough on people who are trafficking Ugandans because for the last one year, he is on the drive of cleaning his name.

Such allegations have resulted into sanctioning of top government officials by United States, Canada, United Kingdom and other European countries.

Minister Otafiire said that the long arm of the law will catch any one involved in human trafficking of Ugandans and police officers will be expelled from the force with disgrace.

However, shadow foreign affairs Minister Muwada Nkunyingi rubbished Otafiire’s allegation that NUP is involved in human trafficking. He threatened that very soon, he will table on the floor of parliament the names of powerful government officials involved in the said crime.

He further explained that those government officials hide under labour exporting companies to traffic Ugandans and sell them into slavery abroad.

Ronald Muwenda Mutebi the Kabaka of Buganda recently warned youths to be very careful with people who entice them with ideas of going abroad to work.

The King warned that some of these people harbor bad intentions against them because they are only looking at how they can financially benefit from them.

By Sengooba Alirabaki

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Speaker  Zahara Luyirika together with some City Councilors have put up a spirited physical fight to stop controversial Shawuriyako city businessman Hajji Asuman Nkambwe and police from arresting their very own Micdad Muganga who is implicated fraud.

Early this month, Buganda Road Court issued a warrant of arrest against Muganga a brother to former Kawempe South legislator Mubrack Munyagwa Sserunga and also Makerere Councillor to City Hall after he failed to honor several Court summons to appear before the Magistrate Court and answer criminal charges related to fraud.

Nkambwe who is the complaint told to theGrapevine that for over two years, he has been looking for Muganga and on several occasions petitioned Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago, Kampala City Senior Minister Hajjat Minsa Kabanda, city Executive Director Dr. Dorothy Kisaka, Munyagwa and Lubaga North Legislator Abubaker Kawalya to help him to get justice in vain until court issued arresting warranting.

“That’s why I decided to get a spy here (city hall) to inform me once they see Muganga here.Today morning (last week Tuesday), I got a phone call from one of them telling me that Muganga was here attending City Council meeting. I rushed to Kampala Central Police Station to get policemen to help me arrest the man from here,” Nkambwe recounted.

He explained that security at City Hall first tried to stop them from accessing the premises but a police officer who was leading the operation showed them the Court warrant and they were allowed.

He narrated that they agreed not to interrupt the ongoing KCCA Council meeting but wait from outside until themeeting was done.

Within a few minutes Faridah Nakabugo, a city councilor representing Lubaga Division stormed out of the meeting and started taking pictures of all people outside.

A source who was inside the KCCA meeting revealed to theGrapevine that when Muganga received a text message from his people outside informing him that police had surrounded city hall and wanted to arrest him, he raised the matter before the Speaker complaining that there are people who want to arrest him on fabricated charges.

The Councilors started protesting why security wants to arrest a Councilor in the middle of a meeting. When Nakabugo came back to the meeting, she gave her phone to Muganga to see the man who wanted to arrest him. Herealised that it was Nkambwe.

The Councilors started asking the speaker to order security at KCCA to throw out Nkambwe and the policemen but Councilor Ivan Mubiru who represents Busega offered to go and talk to Nkambwe because using force was going to deepen the worrying situation.

Mubiru tried to plead with Nkambwe not to embarrass Muganga by arresting him at the city hall like a chicken thief but Nkambwe insisted that this was the only opportunity to arrest Muganga so that he may face the long arm of the law.

Mubiru went back to the council meeting and briefed fellow Councillor who stormed out of the meeting.

Councilor Nakabugo started insulting Nkambwe who made several phone calls asking for more policemen.

She realised that she was also going to be arrested, she quickly went back to the Council hall.

One of the heads of Security at City Hall then pleaded with Nkambwe and the policemen to leave the Council hall to allow the Councilors to proceed with the meeting.

He promised them that once the meeting is concluded, he will help them to execute a court directive which they accepted.

When the meeting was completed, Muganga was dressed with the Speaker’s gown, surrounded by fellow Councilors and he sneaked out of the Council hall to the Speaker’s Office.

Nkambwe said that they waited until 10pm in the evening but no one was coming out of the speaker’s office.They were informed that the person they wanted had used the back door and left city hall.

“Now I am going back to Court to tell the Chief Magistrate who issued this order that Luyirika and Nakabugo objected to the execution of his order, and he will advise accordingly. I want to assure them, they will pay,” Nkambwe said.

He claims that in 2021, he was approached by Muganga and Andul Byakatonda the workers legislator who by then was the chairperson of the Indian properties Custodian Board in charge of Kampala city.

The duo gave him a deal to buy three properties owned by KCCA which were up for sale by lease.

The properties were situated on plot 23 Martin Road, Plot 34 Rashid Khamis Road and plot 18 Ben Kiwanuka road.

He was supposed to pay Shs3bn for all the properties.

He instruct his lawyer Nathan Mpenje who was working with Lukwago and Company Advocates then before establishing his own law firm to verify the property ownership before he paid the money.

The lawyer reported to him that the buildings were indeed owned by KCCA and he paid the money which he borrowed from city money lenders.

He instruct his lawyer to proceed with the process of transferring the properties into his names.

However, he was surprised to learn that the properties are owned by Indian Properties Custodian Board.

He started asking Byakatonda and Muganga to return his money but they decided to hide from him.

He decided to institute criminal proceedings against them until Court issued warrant of arrest against Muganga who declined to honour court summons.

Byakatonda declined to comment on the matter claiming that it is a court matter.

By Hadijjah Namagembe

Former Kawempe North legislator Al-Hajji Latif Ssebaggala Ssengendo has confirmed to theGrapevine that he has abandoned his political dream to replace Muhammad Ssegirinya as Kawempe North member of parliament come 2026.

In 2021, Ssebaggala who had been in parliament for 20 years was defeated by the then Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Councilor Ssegirinya who contested on the National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket.

Ssebaggala declined to take legal action against Ssegirinya and concentrated on clandestine political mobilization.Voters in the constituency were very sure that he was coming to reclaim his political seat.

However, exclusively speaking to theGrapevine, Ssebaggala revealed that in 2026, he is going to contest against Emmanuel Sserunjogi for Kawempe Division mayorship seat.

When asked why he abandoned the juicy MP seat and decided to contest for a mayor, he explained that he spent a number of years in parliament and made a big contribution to his people and now he wants to serve them in another capacity as a Division mayor.

theGrapevine established that Barbie Itungo Kyagulanyi, the wife to Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) has a hand in Ssebaggala’s decision to contest as mayor.

Itungo is one of the strong members of the inner circle in NUP who are highly respected given that she is the first lady and her decisions are always final and not contested.

However, Ssebaggala’s decision to change his mind and to contest against Sserunjogi has created for him a hostile environment in the area because Sserunjogi’s supporters have started sabotaging his new campaign by mobilizing people not to listen to him.

“He should retire from active politics, he has nothing to add to Kawempe and we shall not allow him to address people in our presence,” one of the foot soldiers who is a close friend to Sserunjogi said.

“He shouldn’t waste his resources and energy because he will lose in 2026. Bobi Wine will not abandon people he knows very well in favour of people like Ssebaggala who was a staunch Democratic Party (DP) supporter,” a source said.

Other sources said that Itungo is still making political calculations after being advised to contest for Wakiso district woman Member of Parliament to replace NUP’s Betty Esther Naluyima who is a relative to veteran journalist and also spokesperson of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) Andrew Mwenda.

Mwenda revealed that Naluyima is one of the NUP candidates in 2021 who were surprised by their win because she did not have money to move around the entire district campaigning.

Before Itungo comes into the political picture, after one Sylvia Namutyaba, a foot soldier and also a darling to Bobi Wine also declared interest to contest against her for NUP ticket come 2026.

theGrapevine has further established that Ssegirinya is also still interested in the seat and even though he is still receiving treatment, he has plans to start his political campaign in 2025 after fully recovering from a strange disease. He is currently still getting medication from Nairobi Kenya.

“He has a lot of unfinished business that is why he is coming back,” Alex Luwemba his personal assistant said.

Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro the party deputy spokesperson is also interested in the seat because he is very sure that it will be very difficult for him to win a political seat back home in Busoga.

President Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) has used a lot of energy to make sure that it sweeps Busoga and removes all traces of the opposition.

Kampala city lawyer Erais Nalukoola has also declared interest to contest on the same seat and has confirmed talks with Bobi Wine so that he is fronted by NUP.

Since Norbert Mao the DP president general entered a political marriage with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s government, Nalukoola, who is DP’s chief legal advisor feels his career in the party is threatened because he protested against the agreement.

Sources close to Nalukoola said that come 2025, he is likely to cross to NUP if the ongoing negotiations with Bobi Wine succeed but if they fail, he is going to stand as an independent.

Nalukoola is very understands the political dynamics in Kawempe Division because he was once a youth councilor.

By that time, he was still a student at Law Development Center and a personal lawyer to a number of prominent families in Kawempe.

Bobi Wine is at the cross roads given that he has to take a tough decision of stoping his wife from contesting for a political office come 2026 as he did in 2021 when he stopped her from contesting for Wakiso district woman Member of Parliament seat.

Recently, Commissioner of Parliament Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba revealed that Bobi Wine is under siege and his family members are using him as a weapon to gain politically, socially and economically.

However, Bobi Wine rubbished the allegation.

By Sengooba Alirabaki