Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda was outside Uganda when he learnt that prosecutors had placed his name inside an alleged plot to overthrow President Yoweri Museveni’s government by force.
The former Kiira Municipality MP, now secretary general of the People’s Front for Freedom, said he had never attended the meetings described by the state and had never conspired with anyone to seize power through violence.
“I have never travelled to the alleged countries in my entire life except Kenya,” Ssemujju told The Observer by telephone.
“There has never been such a meeting where we plotted to use violence to remove the government.”
His denial came after prosecutors named him alongside former Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, Salamu Musumba, Lubega Mukaaku and political analyst Charles Rwomushana in a summary of evidence presented when Lukwago was committed to the High Court for trial.
When asked to comment on the inclusion of his name in the summary of evidence against Lukwago, Rwomushana was cryptic.
“I am from Rwenshama.” Pressed to explain what he meant, he replied: “It means I am from Rwenshama.” Rwenshama is a fishing village and landing site on the eastern shore of Lake Edward in Rukungiri District, western Uganda.
Lukwago faces a charge of misprision of treason, an allegation that he knew about a plan to overthrow the government but failed to report it to the authorities. He has not been accused of personally planning or carrying out the alleged overthrow.
Last week, Makindye Chief Magistrate Sarah Basemera formally committed him for trial after reading an amended indictment.
“You are committed to the High Court for trial,” the magistrate said.
“The next court will be the High Court, where your case will be heard.”
For Uganda’s opposition, however, the case has quickly grown beyond Lukwago. The mention of several prominent political figures, some already outside the country and others facing security concerns, has deepened a broader fear that the investigation may widen.
None of the other figures named in the indictment has been formally charged in this case, according to the material available. Still, their inclusion has left opposition leaders confronting an increasingly urgent question: who could be next?
THE PROSECUTION’S ACCOUNT
The alleged case dates to 2021, when Andrew Wilson, described by prosecutors as the proprietor of a private security company providing services including firearm sales, investigations and tactical training, was reportedly contacted by Joel Wakayima, a Ugandan living in Switzerland.
According to the prosecution, Wakayima sought firearms, weapons and training for Ugandans at home and in the diaspora as part of a plan to overthrow the government by force of arms.
The state says Wilson concluded that the request was criminal and tried to alert the Ugandan authorities. He was later connected to the commander of Uganda’s contingent under the African Union Mission in Somalia, a senior Uganda People’s Defence Forces officer then based in Somalia.
Prosecutors allege that the officer asked Wilson to continue engaging Wakayima as a government informant so the authorities could establish the scope of the purported plot. Wilson was also reportedly introduced to intelligence officers at the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, with whom he worked closely.
The summary of evidence states that Wakayima introduced Wilson to Musumba in 2023. Prosecutors allege that she requested training in covert communication and intelligence-gathering techniques for supporters who would spy on the government.
“Musumba subsequently requested a meeting with Wilson in Brussels, Belgium, where she invited many other people to attend, including the accused, Ssemujju Nganda, Lubega Mukaaku and Charles Rwomushana,” the prosecution’s summary reads in part.
“In the discussion at this meeting, Wilson accepted to join the plot to overturn the government and agreed to be their security and military advisor. The accused was aware of the meeting between Wilson and Salamu Musumba but did not report it to any authority.
The discussions at this meeting were recorded by Wilson, and the recording shall be relied upon at the trial.”
The prosecution further alleges that Musumba introduced opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye to Wilson and that their first physical meeting took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 29, 2023.
“At this meeting, the group discussed the plot to overturn the Government of Uganda by force of arms,” the magistrate read.
The state says further meetings were held in Brussels, Athens and Nairobi. Besigye and Hajj Obeid Lutale were arrested in Nairobi in November 2024. These claims remain allegations. The evidence, including the purported recordings, has yet to be tested through a full trial.
SSEMUJJU REJECTS THE ACCOUNT
Ssemujju said the state’s description of the alleged meetings was false and argued that the inclusion of his name showed the case had been fabricated. He specifically denied having a political relationship with Rwomushana.
“I have never done any politics with Charles Rwomushana,” he said. “The only meeting I have ever had with Rwomushana is sitting together during a talk show at NBS TV.”
He also made an allegation against the former CMI leadership, claiming the intelligence behind the case could not be trusted.
“It is not surprising that Maj Gen Birungi, the CMI boss who collected evidence, is himself in prison for manufacturing intelligence reports,” Ssemujju said. Lukwago’s lawyer, Medard Lubega Ssegona, declined to discuss the wider political meaning of the prosecution.
“The case is already in court,” Ssegona said. “I can’t discuss the same matter I am litigating.”
His caution reflects the legal difficulty surrounding the case: opposition leaders see a pattern of political pressure, while prosecutors say they are pursuing serious criminal allegations. The High Court will ultimately have to determine whether the state’s evidence establishes an offence or whether the case collapses under scrutiny.
A PARTY LEADERSHIP SCATTERED
The case comes at a moment when several senior opposition figures are either in detention, outside the country or facing unresolved security threats. Ssemujju has been living outside Uganda since late June.
He travelled to Makkah for Umrah, the minor Islamic pilgrimage, two days after Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces, reportedly warned that Ssemujju would be next following Lukwago’s detention.
Ssemuju has not publicly declared that he is in exile. In a post on X commenting on the reported rearrest of former Butambala County MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, however, he said he was in a neighbouring country watching events in Uganda.
“My brother Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, while you were away in Kitalya Prison for five months, a new order was proclaimed in Uganda,” Ssemujju wrote.
“Criticising members of Museveni family means you don’t like the country and it is therefore a criminal offence.”
He continued: “In the new order, even when you are intercepted by police, it first hands you over to the military to undergo Bachwezi prison initiation ceremony in the basement. Power to arrest is no longer with the Police. Rules in the new order are being issued right and left.”
“I am also in a neighbouring country trying to learn them. I will, through our lawyer Medard Sseggona, send you a list of what I have recorded so far.”
Kivumbi’s whereabouts have remained unknown since armed security personnel reportedly rearrested him shortly after he secured bail, having spent almost five months on remand. His disappearance has intensified concern within opposition circles because it followed his release through the formal court process.
The case raises a fundamental rule-of-law question: what protection does bail offer if a suspect can be taken again outside the courtroom and cannot be traced? Ssemujju is also not the only senior opposition official living outside Uganda.
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, president of the National Unity Platform, has remained in the United States since leaving Uganda after the January presidential election. He said he faced a credible threat to his life and the safety of his family.
“They raided my home on January 16, and I managed to escape,” Kyagulanyi said. “A few days later, they returned, assaulted my wife and other family members, vandalised the house, stole valuables, and our home is still occupied and surrounded. That’s why I’ve been hiding and why I’m leaving the country for now.”
His announcement came a day after documents from a case first filed at Gulu Police Station on March 16, 2026, appeared on social media. The documents accused him of making false statements contrary to Section 25(9) of the Penal Code Act.
Their disclosure also led to the remand of Gloria Grace Laker, an intern at the Gulu High Court, who was accused of photographing a charge sheet reportedly being prepared against Kyagulanyi and sharing it online.
Taken together, the cases have left significant parts of Uganda’s opposition leadership divided among courtrooms, prisons, hiding places and foreign countries. That fragmentation matters beyond the individuals involved.
Opposition parties need leaders who can travel, hold meetings, recruit candidates, raise money and communicate with supporters. When senior officials are imprisoned, prosecuted, missing or afraid to return home, the effect reaches local party structures and ordinary voters who expect political competition to give them alternatives.
PFF VOWS TO CONTINUE
The People’s Front for Freedom says it will not allow arrests, prosecutions or security pressure to silence the party. Dr Michael Bayiga Lulume, the party’s deputy president for Buganda, said several PFF leaders were either in prison or outside Uganda for their safety, but the organisation would continue speaking about the country’s shrinking political space.
“Some of our leaders are in prison, others are outside trying to stay safe,” Lulume said at the party’s headquarters on Katonga Road in Kampala.
“President Museveni wants to intimidate everybody to keep quiet as he continues to cruise at high altitude. He thought nobody would speak when his son tries to come after him as president.”
Lulume accused the government of using the justice system and other state institutions to suppress its opponents.
“He thought that everybody would cow away. Leaders have been imprisoned for no good reason. He has weaponised the court; he weaponised all aspects of governance, but we are teaching him a lesson that the opposition will continue.”
“Thinking that PFF is going to die simply because they might target any leaders is not going to happen. One person will go and others will rise up. Let nobody think that we are a party blessing itself for extinction.”
AN OPPOSITION OPERATING UNDER FEAR
Political analyst Bob Kirenga said the combination of criminal cases, arrests, disappearances and self- imposed exile was creating a climate in which opposition politics had become increasingly difficult.
“You can see we are in difficult times,” Kirenga said. “The so-called freedom that we have always talked about seems to be under attack or threat.”
“People fear to speak out. The opposition now cannot even organise itself. All sorts of charges are coming up.” Kirenga argued that where authorities have genuine cases, investigators should quietly assemble the evidence before announcing accusations.
“If you have genuine cases against people, you don’t have to announce them beforehand,” he said.
“You investigate, put your files together with all the evidence and then call them to answer the charges. But the way things are moving right now, we are in difficult times.”
He expects the opposition to emerge considerably weaker than in previous parliamentary terms.
“I think the opposition will be extremely weaker,” he said. “As long as the state doesn’t want to create an enabling environment for the opposition to thrive and have alternative views, it becomes very difficult.”
Additional reporting by Devon Ssuubi
