STATEMENT ON THE SUPREME COURT DECISION OUTLAWING THE TRIAL OF CIVILIANS BY MILITARY COURTS 31 January 2025 We welcome today’s Supreme Court ruling stopping the trial of civilians by the military courts martial. For years, we have condemned these inherently unfair trials, which have been a key weapon of persecution wielded by the regime against its opponents. Since 2020, over 2,000 NUP supporters have been abducted, tortured and subjected to sham military trials. Today's judgment vindicates the cries of thousands who have been suffering illegal prosecution before these kangaroo courts and reaffirms what we have always said—civilians must be tried by civilians. We also welcome the Court’s directive that all pending cases against soldiers, which should rightfully be tried in civil courts, must be transferred to those courts. This issue is critical because even serving army officers deserve fair trials under a transparent and independent judicial system. No one—civilian or soldier—should be subjected to a sham judicial process. We hope that this ruling, which came as a pleasant surprise to the vast majority of citizens, is the first step for the judiciary to cleanse its image, which has been overtime grossly soiled by its inability to hold true to the tenets of judicial independence and impartiality. The judiciary must prove that today’s decision is not an exception to the norm but the beginning of consistent and impartial justice for all Ugandans. Ugandans deserve a judiciary that upholds constitutional supremacy and the rule of law at all times, regardless of who is going to be affected by the outcome of the decision made. We reiterate our call for the immediate release of all political prisoners, including Dr. Kizza Besigye and his colleague, Hajj Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya, as well as the National Unity Platform prisoners of conscience who include Agaba Anthony (Bobi Young), Yasin Ssekitoleko (Machete), Kato Umar, Patrick Mwase, Sharif Kalanzi, Joseph Muwonge, Abdallah Kintu, Umar Kato, Kavuma Musa, Jimmy Galukande, Gibusiwa Abdallah and countless others who remain behind bars. Aluta continua. Uganda will be free! Every small victory along the way matters. KYAGULANYI SSENTAMU ROBERT
Hosted at our home in Magere a team of brave @NUP_Ug footsoldiers coming from Kayunga District. They're united, determined, and ready to build a new Uganda where all are free and equal before the law! https://t.co/BtosTp0feO
We joined comrade Martin Sejjemba, the Chairperson of Mpigi District, at a thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate the journey the Lord has walked with him since his election in 2021. It gives us great pride to see that despite assuming such a big and busy office at a very young age, comrade Sejjemba has delivered beyond expections and managed the temptations that come with it. We celebrate you comrade!
We spent the day in BUTAMBALA where we attended Jummah prayers and later had a home-coming rally organised by the @NUP_Ug Deputy President for Buganda, Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi. I thank our people who came out in thousands to receive us and listen to the revolutionary message. Very grateful to all leaders who joined us as we received our new Deputy President and prayed for him as he embarked on this very important role. #PeoplePowerOurPower
Upon concluding our activities in UAE yesterday, I was honored to meet with leaders of our @NUP_Ug Chapter there. We discussed various matters concerning the Chapter, and the plight of the tens of thousands of its members. I thank you our leaders in the Gulf region and the UAE Chapter in particular for the thankless work you do to keep our mission alive and the Chapter vibrant. #PeoplePowerOurPower
The road towards the PROTEST VOTE begins today. Go VERIFY your details, REGISTER to vote (if you're not registered) or TRANSFER to a new polling station! Go to the nearest point! #ProtestVoteUg2026 https://t.co/RjjMwTcKu1
We are in Dubai, meeting and sharing a word with Ugandans who live and work here. Very glad to see that despite having left their country for greener pastures abroad, these comrades are still actively involved in the struggle to change the conditions back home. #PeoplePowerOurPower #BringBackOurPeople #FreeAllPoliticalPrisonersUganda
Congratulations our Deputy President upon your graduation. May this step encourage our other leaders and comrades to work hard and add value to themselves, as we individually and collectively prepare ourselves to deliver our motherland out of the mess it is in.
Today the National Executive Committee of the @NUP_Ug took yet another significant step and approved the appointment of various leaders in Acting Capacity to different roles, up to when we hold the Delegates' Conference. I congratulated these leaders, charged them to remain true to the values of our liberation struggle and tasked them to work hard to advance the cause. These leaders are: 1. Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, Deputy President, Buganda Region 2. Hon. @JacklynJolly1 Tukamushaba, Deputy President, Western Region 3. Rev. Dr. Ben Byamugisha Butumbwire- Secretary for the Elderly 4. Ms. Harriet Ageno, Secretary for Policy 5. Mr. Julius Maganda, Secretary for Persons With Disability (PWDs) 6. Mr. @BwambalePr26528, Secretary for Youth, Western Region
Mr. Owiny-Dollo, the Chief (in)Justice; I have taken note of your response to my assertion that the judiciary you lead is complicit in the political persecution and eventual death of Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya. Like I said at his burial, the judiciary and everyone else who conspired to keep Hon. Ssegirinya in jail, even when he was clearly dying, all have his blood on their hands! But I am curious: why have you found my comments deserving of a response but you continue to maintain deafening silence about the ongoing public uproar against the trial of civilians in military tribunals that has raged on for years now? Why have you not dedicated similar energy to the appeal against this injustice that has spent four years gathering dust on your desk at the Supreme Court? The injustice that has seen many Ugandans spend years or months in detention without trial? Isn't it the same judiciary that remanded Kakwenza to prison instead of sending him to the ICU for emergency treatment when he appeared in court with festering wounds following his abduction and torture for criticizing the NRM regime? That judiciary denied the ill Hon. Ssegirinya bail for two whole years, but released healthy NRM legislators and ministers within just a few days of their arrest for stealing relief items from vulnerable citizens in Karamoja who were dying of poverty. That same judiciary sentenced Edward Awebwa to six years in jail for criticizing dictator Museveni on TikTok, but let off the hook senior police officers who arrested, detained, tortured and left Hon. Zaake for dead! The list is long. You, Mr. Owiny-Dollo, abused your position and influence in the judiciary to deny the people of Uganda justice in the petition we filed at the Supreme Court challenging dictator Museveni’s rigging of the 2021 election. You did not stop there but went ahead to hound and persecute the only Judge in that Court who dared to question your illegal orders until she fled the country to save her life! You boast that the judiciary you lead “saved me” when it granted me bail, and we resumed our presidential campaigns, but that can not be further from reality. The reality is that the massive pressure that Ugandans across the country put on the regime after our arrest left it with no choice but to reluctantly let the courts to free us just like the case was in 2018. The other reality is that under your leadership, the judiciary has become either numb, unwilling, or incapable of fulfilling its constitutional obligation to dispense justice without fear or favour in cases where dictator Museveni and his regime declare or are thought to be interested in particular outcomes. The reason your judiciary denied Hon. Ssegirinya bail is that dictator Museveni, contrary to the law, had expressly forbidden it. In that moment, under your leadership, the judiciary could not muster any courage, conviction or foresight to do what was right: give Hon. Ssegirinya bail before it was too late! It therefore does not take rocket science for citizens to see that any judicial officer handling such “sensitive” files like Ssegirinya’s ultimately has to consider the implication that ruling against the regime will have on their future and fortunes in that judiciary. Ugandans are tired of a judiciary that works like a dead clock: only correct twice a day. They demand for a judiciary that is consistent and impartial in its dispensation of justice and interpretation of the law no matter what suspect appears before it and what they are accused of! That is not much to ask. Going forward, Ugandans hope you'll gather some courage to put an end to the trial of civilians in military courts! If you're too busy, you could write this one paragraph: "We have read and agree with the numerous decisions of the Constitutional Court barring the trial of civilians in military courts, and have nothing useful to add." That one paragraph can restore hope to millions and their shuttered trust in the judiciary.
When Gen. Museveni murdered Yasin Kawuma in cold blood in 2018, he sent Catherine Kusasira to deliver 20 million shillings at his funeral. As usual, the condition for receiving the money was to thank Museveni and 'not talk politics' at his burial! They promised that after the burial, the family would meet Gen. Museveni and that he would take care of his family. Of course, all this did not happen, but they used these empty promises to conscript some members of the family. Some went us far as blaming Kawuma's death on us, his friends, instead of the regime, on whose orders he was murdered! When they shot and killed our comrade Dan Kyeyune, they sent money to his family and went as far as draping his body in an NRM flag even when he was a known People Power activist. His family was coerced into thanking Museveni at the burial, and shamelessly claiming that he was their supporter. When they murdered Jakana Nadduli, Museveni sent his minister Kyofatogabye who came with 10 million shillings at his funeral. They deployed thugs to intimidate mourners and insist that no one speaks the truth of what killed Jakana who was abducted, tortured, illegally detained, and eventually murdered by the regime. For all these people, there has been no accountability or justice regarding their death! That has been their game, all along. To kill our people and then take over their burial using money and false promises for PR. The same happened with Hon. Cerina Nebanda, Zebra Mando, Muhammad Kirumira, etc. The list is too long. You have seen them take over and give official funerals to prominent people who have died under very suspicious circumstances. They thought they would do the same game with Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya. I salute the citizens who resisted the attempts to hand over his body to the very people who murdered him! They mocked him in life and wanted to mock him in death. Good enough, Hon. Ssegirinya, while he still lived, spoke repeatedly about the kind of send-off he wanted to receive. I thank all of you who tried to live up to his requests. Fight Hard, our good brother!
They wondered how a young party like ours would place Ssegirinya above known politicians. But I stood my ground and told them I would never overturn the voice of the people, which was very clear. As we stand here today, I am very proud that we have been vindicated. In fact, we were vindicated in the first few months of Ssegirinya in Parliament. He immediately embarked on serving the people of Kawempe North with dedication. He invested in healthcare, in economic empowerment, in community service- responsibilities that should ordinarily fall on the shoulders of a functional government. But as we all know, we have an absent government, so leaders have to step in. He visited the sick, the poor and the hungry. Ssegirinya was a true representation of what we stand for as People Power- being the voice for the common person. He spoke for the boda-bodas, the market people, the downtrodden. It is this attitude that earned him so many friends, and enemies alike. Before long, the regime conspired with some politicians whom he repeatedly told us about. They arrested him, tortured him, and eventually sent him to his early grave. Like I said at our headquarters the other day, Ssegirinya did not enjoy even one day of his tenure as an MP. He has spent all his time as an MP either in prison or in hospital, until he gave up the fight. I hope Gen. Museveni feels proud of what he did to Ssegirinya! For the two years he was in jail, we asked the regime to prosecute them. To produce any evidence that they participated in the killings in Masaka. But the regime did not produce that evidence because it was not there! As you all recall, some of the young men, who the regime paraded as witnesses against them, boldly told court that they were paraded by the regime and told to lie that it was Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana who sent them to kill people in Masaka. At a subsequent hearing, they attempted to speak but were silenced. The judge who allowed them speak the first time was transferred and another brought. They were repeatedly denied bail, even when Ssegirinya presented all evidence that his life was going away. Gen. Museveni came out on TV condemning the grant of bail, thereby intimidating the judges. But as they say, they can only walk on your back when you bend it. Even those judges who repeatedly denied them bail are as oppressive as Museveni who detained them. If you're a judge worth your salt, Museveni would rather deny you a promotion, than you send Ssegirinya to an early grave. You would rather flee to exile like Justice Esther Kisakye, than be used as a tool of oppression. That is why we celebrate Chief Justice Ben Kiwanuka who was killed for staying true to his judicial oath. What happened to Uganda? Where are those judges who can still stand to defend the Constitution? Therefore, Ssegirinya joins the long list of prominent and ordinary Ugandans murdered by the Museveni regime. Some are murdered openly, others secretly. Some are murdered very quickly, others face slow painful deaths. Some are murdered with bullets, others with poison. Maama Ssegirinya joins the many parents who are grieving- their children murdered by the Museveni regime! You all saw her video leading a lone protest at Parliament, not once or twice. She came weeping, saying that her son's life was going away. But the regime did not care! Ssegirinya's children join the very long list of children orphaned by Museveni’s regime of blood. The prayers these little children will make every day before they sleep, will never let him have peace. The other day, while Museveni’s son was tweeting very shameful things on Twitter, a priest called me and asked me, "With all the atrocities he has committed, why are you surprised that God has chosen to punish him that way?" He told me that the tears, pain, and prayers of the orphaned children and the widowed mothers will always haunt Museveni and his family until they repent. 2/3
I thank all people who came in thousands to bid farewell to our brother, HON. SSEGIRINYA MUHAMMAD. Below is my message to the mourners! Ladies and gentlemen, Fellow mourners! We gather today, to say farewell to a great man. A man who rose from the poorest of backgrounds to become the talk of Kampala, the talk of Buganda, and the talk of Uganda and beyond. A man who was small in stature but with a very big heart. A man who did not attain so much education and yet possessed great knowledge. He was not an economist and yet he understood the economy of the boda boda rider, the mutembeyi, the woman in the market. A man who joked a lot and yet was very serious on the causes concerning our country. A man who came from right here in Kadugala village and yet died as a national hero. We gather to say farewell to a self-made man. A man who rose through the ranks to become a famous Member of Parliament, and yet did not allow fame to get to his head. Even when he rose to the highest positions in society, he remained the humble Ssegirinya. Unlike many politicians who love to be addressed with big titles, even when they're doing nothing or working against the people, Ssegirinya never cared about titles. You would call him Ssegi and he was fine with it. That is the man we're sending off today. Hon. Ssegirinya said that I should speak for five hours at his funeral, but I am not even sure I can even take thirty minutes. His dying wish however, meant so much to me. It meant the deep sense of trust that he had in me as his friend and leader. He trusted that I would speak the kind of words he would love to be said on his final day. It was very humbling to me that he said that even if no one else spoke, I should speak for all that time. But I know that Ssegirinya was loved by so many people, which is why I couldn't deny them the opportunity to speak about him. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, today as we see Ssegirinya for the very last time, I will say everything for Ssegirinya and very little for myself. This means that whoever has offended me as an individual and was expecting me to talk about you in any way, today you’re wrong. Ssegirinya Mohammad ‘Eddoboozi lye Kyebando’ is a man I knew many years ago as a radio caller and later as a city councillor. I had never met him personally until I was running for MP in Kyadondo East in 2017. Among the many opposition politicians who fully supported me was Ssegirinya even when his party - then FDC - had a candidate. It is then that we built a comradeship that, I hope, will last even for the next generations. We shared so much in common with SSegirinya - born in villages before moving to the ghettos in the city. And how, like me, he did not dwell on that past but turned his life around. I believe that is why I understood him, and he understood me. Tubade twetegeela. I would look into comrade Ssegirinya's eyes and know that even as he joked a lot, he was deeply concerned about the common people. I saw his dreams and how determined he was to make them become real. I saw how much he represented everything we are as common people. In 2020, as we prepared for the 2021 election, we, as the People Power Movement, were faced with a test. It was a very tough test. We had the party's Organising Secretary, an incumbent MP, and other seasoned politicians interested in the Kawempe North seat. When the results from the ground survey came back, Ssegirinya scored over 80% from the responses of the people. The Organising Secretary lodged a petition, and we sent another team. The results came back the same way. We resisted all manner of attempts to overturn the results and insisted that we must follow People Power because that is our power. As I said the other day, some politicians came to me complaining. They asked how we could choose a riffraff over seasoned politicians with a lot of education. 1/
At the vigil of Hon. Ssegirinya at the @NUP_Ug headquarters https://t.co/5Zy2JEVf4o
"The emancipation of women is not an act of charity, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude. The liberation of women is a fundamental necessity for the revolution, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition for its victory." ~ Samora Machel #PeoplePowerOurPower
3/4 Our children would not have to study under trees. Our teachers would not have to resort to riding bodabodas because of poor pay! I could go on and on with these statistics but they're not even as important because they only summarise the lived experience of our people. So this is my point: With power, there is nothing; no condition within our capacity to change that we cannot change. We only need to have the good will to do so. Like Kwame Nkrumah once said, "Seek ye first the political kingdom and all else shall be added unto you." Power is a double edged sword. Give it to evil people, and they will use it to steal, kill and plunder. Give it to good people, and they will use it to build and empower. That is why we must take back that power from a group that has caused so much suffering and humiliation to our people and use it, as the people of Uganda, to build a better nation. We must fight to take power from a man who is not ashamed to say that he is only workout for himself, his children and grand children and use it to build a country based on freedom, fairness and social justice. All of us, regardless of our differences in opinion, religion or tribe have only one country to call home – Uganda. If we are pained by whatever wrong is going on in this Uganda, we have the duty to get our hands dirty and resolve it. We must do that using each and every opportunity we get. That is why this year is very important. I want to invite us all, fellow citizens, to get our hands dirty. You boda boda riders, you farmers, you soldiers and police officers, you mechanics, you lawyers, you doctors and nurses, you religious and cultural leaders, you nurses and doctors, no one can be safe in a sinking boat. The other day, our fellow citizen Ssemwaka Julius was shot dead here in Kampala over a simple traffic issue. A few days back a UPDF soldier, Amon Ariho was forced to send himself to an early grave because of the working environment in the military. Maybe these citizens didn't care so much about politics. Maybe they didn't think politics affected them in any way. Well, until their lives ended in the most cruel way because of bad politics. Let us use this year to fight for the future of our children and grand children. Use protests of all kinds. Use election campaigns. Use Parliament. Use the mainstream media. Use social media. Our friends in the diaspora, protest, agitate and knock on doors. Use everything to fight. Have no shame, no apologies for fighting for a future that we truly deserve. As we have constantly told the nation, we are committed to using every opportunity to put an end to this situation. If we succeed before an election, THANK GOD. If we get to the election, we must use it to mobilise, organise and agitate. I ask especially the young people of Uganda, to crowd all those registration points from the 20th of this month and register to vote. I want to encourage all people young and old, across the country to stand for office under the NUP flag and other pro-people fronts. Go for different positions. Not all of you will be MPs because there can only be one MP for every constituency. Run for LC 1 Chairperson. Run to become a councillor. Run to be on the youth, women, PWDs, and the elderly committees. Replace those corrupt officials and when you win, do not become corrupt yourself. But as you run and do your politics, do not stand in the way of the revolution. That position you are fighting to occupy is nothing compared to the freedom the people of Uganda seek to achieve. Let me also encourage everyone who seeks to run under the NUP flag to connect with the people. Whether you're an incumbent leader or not, your bosses are the people. The NUP flag is not at Kavule on anyone's desk. It is not for sale. The NUP flag is on the ground. Whatever mode of candidate selection we eventually decide to use, the voice of the people will override any other consideration.