Kampala, Uganda – National Unity Platform (NUP) Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya has once again raised alarm over the continued detention of nine opposition supporters at Kitalya Government Prison, some of whom have spent four years in jail without trial.
Rubongoya, who visited the inmates on the morning of June 25th, 2025, described the prisoners as physically and emotionally worn, yet still unwavering in their stance: they are innocent and refuse to plead guilty to crimes they insist they never committed.
“The four years of illegal detention without trial have definitely taken a toll on them,” Rubongoya wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Despite this, they are still firmly standing on their innocence.”
The nine political detainees include Ssekitoleko Yasin Machete, Patrick Mwase, Sharif Kalanzi, Joseph Muwonge, Abdallah Kintu, Umar Emma Kato, Kavuma Musa, Jimmy Galukande, and Gibusiwa Abdallah, who were reportedly arrested between 2020 and 2021, in the wake of pre- and post-election chaos that saw hundreds of opposition supporters arrested under foggy security operations.
Since then, multiple legal petitions and public appeals have been made by human rights defenders and the NUP leadership demanding their release or fair trial, but justice remains elusive.
Under Uganda’s Constitution, an individual has the right to a fair and speedy trial, yet these detainees have spent nearly 1,500 days behind bars without being brought before a judge.
“This is not just a legal delay, it’s an abuse of power,” said Shifra Nankinga, a human rights lawyer. “Detention without trial for four years is not only unconstitutional, it’s inhumane.”
Their continued incarceration without charge has reignited criticism of the government’s use of security agencies to clamp down on political dissent, especially from the NUP, which has repeatedly accused President Museveni’s administration of turning Uganda into a de facto police state.
Rubongoya’s tweet, accompanied by the hashtags #FreeAllPoliticalPrisonersinUganda and #StopAbuseOfPowerUg, has since gone viral, with thousands of Ugandans expressing frustration and empathy for the prisoners and their families.
“Four years in prison for what? For supporting the wrong party?” one user commented.
“We demand justice. This is not democracy. This is repression,” wrote another.
Despite mounting public pressure, neither the Uganda Prisons Service nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs has issued a formal response. Judiciary officials, when contacted, cite case backlog and complexity of files, though observers argue these explanations are deliberately evasive.
Several lawyers have requested habeas corpus proceedings, but progress remains slow, and hearings are often postponed or dismissed on technical grounds.
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