People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) President and former Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has been committed to the High Court for trial over charges of misprision of treason.
Lukwago is accused of failing to provide information to authorities regarding an alleged treasonous plot involving Dr. Kizza Besigye and other individuals.
According to the state indictment, Lukwago has throughout his political career been a critic of the current government and is alleged to have participated in activities aimed at overthrowing it alongside Dr. Besigye, Ssemujju Nganda, Salaam Musumba, among others.
The evidence presented by the state indicates that in 2021, Andrew Wilson, a private security company owner, was contacted by Joel Wakhaima, a Ugandan citizen based in Switzerland, who allegedly sought firearms, military training and support to organize a force against the government.
The state alleges that Wilson realized the request was criminal and decided to report the matter to Ugandan authorities. He was reportedly provided with the contacts of the Commander of the Ugandan contingent of AMISOM, a senior UPDF officer who was then based in Somalia.
The officer allegedly asked Wilson to continue engaging with the group to gather more information. Wilson was later introduced to intelligence officers at the then Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), under whose supervision he continued his engagements and submitted regular reports.
The state further alleges that Wilson later engaged with several individuals, including Salaam Musumba, Ssemujju Nganda, Lubega Mukaku and Charles Rwomushana, during meetings where military and intelligence support was allegedly discussed.
The documents also claim that Dr. Besigye and other associates held meetings with Wilson in Geneva and Nairobi, where they allegedly discussed acquiring weapons, training recruits, using drones and other activities aimed at destabilizing the government.
The state alleges that the group discussed accessing military facilities, introducing counterfeit currency into the economy and plans to assassinate President Yoweri Museveni.
Enter Lukwago
The state alleges that, as the leader of PFF, Lukwago was aware that Dr. Besigye and Hajji Obeid Lutale, who are also members of the party, travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, and attended a meeting with Wilson, whose alleged objective was to overthrow the government of Uganda, but he failed to report the matter to authorities.
“The accused person (Lukwago) also knew that Joel Wakhaima and Frank Kihehere Atukunda approached Andrew Wilson for assistance in a plot to overturn the government of the Republic of Uganda by force of arms but did not report it to any authority in Uganda,” the state alleges in its indictment.
The prosecution further alleges that Lukwago knew that Dr. Besigye had approached Wilson and that the two, together with Wakhaima, held several meetings in different locations where they allegedly planned to overthrow the government by force of arms, but he did not report the matter to authorities.
The state alleges that Lukwago knew that Dr. Besigye, Obeid Lutale, Simon Rutarondwa, Joel Wakhaima and Frank Kihehere Atukunda intended to commit treason but failed to report the alleged plans or make reasonable efforts to prevent the commission of the offence.
