Uganda's security forces have claimed that emerging rebel activities across the country are being aided by foreign influence, accusing some European diplomatic missions—specifically the German Ambassador—of funding and mobilising negative forces bent on destabilising the country ahead of next year’s elections.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) alleged that several suspects with links to organised armed rebellion had been arrested in recent months in connection with sabotage plots, including vandalism of electricity infrastructure across central Uganda.
“The security and intelligence services have over the past few months arrested and interrogated several suspects with links to organised armed rebellion, plot to bomb populated public places, and economic sabotage,” the statement signed by acting Defence and Military spokesperson Colonel Chris Magezi read.
It also notes that key districts affected include Wakiso, Mukono, Kayunga, Luweero, Nakaseke, Kiboga, Nakasongola, Mpigi, and the greater Masaka region.
Some of the suspects reportedly posed as opposition political activists, particularly affiliated with the National Unity Platform (NUP), according to the UPDF. Many of them have since been remanded in custody and charged in courts of law, awaiting trial.
But the most controversial portion of the army’s press release concerns allegations against Germany’s top envoy in Kampala.
“We are particularly concerned about the illegal and clandestine activities of the German Ambassador in Uganda, His Excellency Mathias Schauer,” said Col Magezi.
Magezi said intelligence services have monitored what they described as “clearly undiplomatic practices” by Ambassador Schauer in different parts of the country, which he claimed violate the spirit of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The UPDF did not provide specific evidence to support the allegations but insisted the government was “following up the matter with the concerned foreign mission through the relevant diplomatic channels.”
In an unusually direct condemnation of diplomatic interference, Magezi warned: “The Uganda People’s Defence Forces and the Inter-Agency Security Committee strongly condemn foreign influence meddling in Uganda’s internal affairs and will take decisive action against those who seek to destabilise the country.”
The army also warned of radicalisation campaigns targeting young Ugandans in urban slums.
“These subversive cells are actively luring unsuspecting youths into rebel activities in and around the greater Kampala metropolitan ghetto communities,” Magezi noted.
He urged youth to resist being “exploited by enemy political actors” and instead turn to government-backed development programmes.
“They are further advised to embrace government wealth creation initiatives and youth development programmes for their long-term wellbeing,” Magezi added.
The statement concluded with a promise to identify and isolate what it called “the local treacherous lot and agents of foreign manipulation” in Uganda’s politics and security, warning that these would be dealt with “firmly in accordance with the laws of the land.”
The German Embassy in Kampala has not yet responded publicly to the accusations.
The EU and cited Germany embassy have not yet reacted to the statement while NUP were also yet to issue a response.
The timing of the latest rebel plot allegations follows a familiar pattern in Uganda’s political landscape, where the government has repeatedly raised the spectre of insurrection and terrorism in the months leading up to general elections.
Over the past two decades, such claims—often citing opposition links to armed rebellion or foreign-backed destabilisation plots—have surfaced with conspicuous regularity, fuelling criticism from rights groups and political analysts who view them as tactics to justify repression and discredit dissent.
Opposition parties, particularly the National Unity Platform in recent years, have frequently found themselves at the centre of these narratives, with their members arrested or accused of collusion in vaguely defined plots, often without conclusive evidence or swift judicial resolution.
However, this latest is the strongest yet as the government has not only drawn into the dragnet the Western governments but also specifically accused a top European ambassador.
The unprecedented nature of the claims—naming a specific diplomat—signals mounting tensions between Uganda’s security establishment and some Western actors, particularly in the context of the 2026 general elections.
Colonel Magezi reiterated the government’s intent to “take firm action against the ringleaders, organisers, and funders of rebel activities,” which the army claims are designed in part to disrupt the electoral process.