Why NUP diaspora propagandist was intercepted by security at Entebbe Airport, detained

National Unity Platform propagandist, Fazir Mayanja, a Ugandan residing in Ireland was yesterday intercepted by security operatives as he entered the country via Entebbe Airport.

According to information obtained by the Nile Post, Mayanja was asked to step aside, his bags ransacked and he was also subjected to a physical check before taking him away to an unknown destination.

Mayanja, it has been confirmed was later arrested briefly by the Aviation Police and charged with computer misuse under case file 25/ 13/5/2023. He was later bonded by police and required to report back on May 19th.

Mayanja Fazir is the proprietor of the Ekyooto news website and other media platforms under the same name which has in the past years been used to publish anti-government propaganda.

Speaking about the situation of Mayanja, NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine said the “outspoken critic of the Museveni regime, and passionate advocate for good governance, arrived in Uganda from Ireland at 3:00 am.”

“They conducted a physical search on him and profiled him. Shortly after, his phone went off. His family members who were waiting for him at the airport have been denied access to him up to now. For over 15 hours, no one knows what's going on with him”

Bobi says that it is unclear if he is still being held at the airport or if he has been abducted and taken to one of those illegal places of detention.

“This is yet another move to intimidate and silence voices of dissent against the criminal regime. And it must be condemned by all people of good conscience,” he said.

While many pro-government and anti-government analysts claim that Mayanja’s problems stem from a series of publications laced with heavy anti-government propaganda, a section also believes that Mayanja, who had recently toned down on the propaganda is in the country for a deal with some elements in the central government.

“Fazir for almost one year now or more has toned down on his activism, we used to call him teacher because he would blast the government and its propagandists. That he has now landed in Uganda from nowhere is not surprising, he must be here on an invite from the government middlemen for a deal,” a source in NUP confirmed to Nile Post.

Recently, the government has opened its doors to many diaspora critics, who are seeking a new lifeline, to be able to return home and as well go about their businesses abroad without any fears.

Just last week, a picture of Sweden-based vlogger Eddie Messiah with NRA General Salim Saleh appeared on social media. It is said that Messiah is already one of the critics who have negotiated their way back on the good books of the regime.

“Mayanja knows so well what he has been posting on his platforms, it would be foolhardy for him to just appear, he is aware of something and he knows where he gets the guts to return just like that to a country he has been plundering,” the source added.