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KAMPALA, Uganda – The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has drawn a line in the sand. In a rare and defiant move against the security establishment, the ULS has issued a 24-hour ultimatum demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Erias Lukwago, the acting president of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) and a key member of veteran opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye’s legal team.
Lukwago was abducted from his Wakaliga residence on Monday morning by armed men in military uniform, in a dawn operation that his wife, Nalongo Zawedde, described as meticulously planned and executed with military precision. His current whereabouts remain unknown, and no state agency has officially claimed responsibility or provided any charges against him.
Speaking at a hastily convened press conference in Kampala, Uganda Law Society acting council secretary Babu Ssali delivered what many are calling a final warning before legal warfare is unleashed.
“The Uganda Law Society demands the immediate and unconditional release of our colleague Erias Lukwago,” Ssali said, his tone measured but firm. “He was not arrested under any known law. No warrant was produced. No charge has been read. This is not detention—this is enforced disappearance, and it is a crime against the legal profession and the Constitution.”
Ssali announced that the ULS has activated a special Rule of Law Committee team with a clear mandate: to pursue both domestic and international legal action should Lukwago not be produced within 24 hours.
Crucially, the ULS named its intended target. “We will not limit ourselves to filing habeas corpus petitions in our own courts, which have often been ignored,” Ssali stated. “We will take action against the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) personally, both locally and before international bodies, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Criminal Court, if necessary.”
The reference to the CDF—General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni—is significant. Muhoozi has previously posted on social media boasting about the abduction and “humiliation” of opposition figures and their legal representatives, including in the case of Eddie Mutwe (May 2025) and the earlier detention of lawyer Kiiza Ron (January 2025).
Legal observers note that threatening the CDF with personal legal liability is an extraordinary step for the ULS, signaling that the society believes the military chain of command is directly responsible for the abduction of a civilian lawyer.
The ULS also announced that it has documented over a dozen similar cases of lawyer abductions since 2020, describing a “systematic pattern” of targeting defense counsel for politically exposed clients.
“We are not politicians. We are lawyers,” Ssali emphasized. “But when we cannot walk from our homes to the courts without being seized by men in uniform, then there is no Uganda worth practicing law in. The 24 hours are ticking.”
Reactions
Dr. Kizza Besigye’s legal team released a brief statement: “Erias Lukwago is not just our colleague; he is the acting president of PFF and a defender of the Constitution. His abduction is an attack on the entire opposition and the legal fraternity. We stand with the ULS.”
Human rights groups, including Chapter Four Uganda and the Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ), have expressed solidarity with the ULS ultimatum and called on the international community to apply immediate diplomatic pressure.
As of this publication, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the police have not issued any official response. Lukwago’s family remains in anguish, with Nalongo Zawedde saying simply: “24 hours is a long time when you do not know if your husband is alive.”
The clock is now running. If the 24-hour deadline passes without Lukwago’s release, the Uganda Law Society has promised to file unprecedented legal actions that could name General Muhoozi Kainerugaba personally as a respondent.
For a profession already battered by the January 2025 assault on Kiiza Ron and the May 2025 abduction of Eddie Mutwe, this moment may define whether Uganda’s legal community can enforce the very laws it has sworn to protect.
Related
, https://hoimapost.co.ug/uganda-law-society-issues-24-hour-ultimatum-on-erias-lukwagos-abduction-threatens-legal-action-against-muhoozi/
