13 NUP supporters remanded to prison on robbery charges
One of the NUP supporters reacts as they appeared in the dock on May 8, 2025, before they were remanded on charges of aggravated robbery and assault. His mother said he was not close to the scene (football pitch) where the crime was allegedly committed. PHOTO/ GERTRUDE MUTYABA
What you need to know:
- They were arrested on May 4, 2025, after police dispersed spectators of a football match organised by an aspiring opposition MP in Masaka.
- The state says they stole a police officer's mobile phone valued at Shs 100,000 and Shs 100,000 cash.
- The suspects told the court that they were picked up from their homes, with many claiming they did not attend the soccer match where the crime was allegedly committed.
Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court has remanded 13 supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) who were arrested on May 4, in Nyendo as police dispersed spectators of a football match organised by Nyendo–Mukungwe MP aspirant, Mr Lubowa Ssebina Gyaviira.
The suspects appeared before Magistrate Simon Toloko and were charged with aggravated robbery and causing grevious harm to a police officer.
Prosecution led by Ms Mariam Njuki alleges that on May 4, 2025, Emma Mutima, Godfrey Kiweewa, Godfrey Nuwamanya and Patrick Tamale attacked Detective Constable Kisame David, stole his mobile phone valued at Shs100,000 and Shs100,000 cash.
The other suspects are Patrick Kakeeto, Yiga Peter, Dennis Ssengozi, Jacob Kayondo, Lawrence Mujuzi, Ezera Kakiga, Ivan Musania, Fred Ssebale, and Reagan Sseremba.
The crime was reportedly committed during a football match at Kasana playground in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division, organised by Mr Gyaviira.
Police blocked the soccer game by firing live bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd, claiming that the organisers, who are NUP members, did not get clearance from relevant authorities to hold the event.
Several people were arrested in the aftermath of the disruption.
NUP is the leading opposition party led by Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, 43, who recently declared his intention to challenge President Museveni, 80, for the second time in 2026.
Defence lawyer, Mr Magellan Kazibwe, told the court that his clients were tortured in police custody, where they spent over four days and urgently needed medical attention.
One suspect claimed that during the arrest, police officers re-injured his already fractured hand. He pleaded for bail to seek medical treatment.
Mr Kazibwe asked the court to direct the state prosecutor to expedite investigations and commit the suspects to the High Court. He also criticized the arrests, alleging that most of the accused were not present at the football match where the crimes allegedly took place.
However, Ms Mariam Njuki, the state prosecutor, stated she could not confirm when investigations would be completed.
The suspects in the dock on May 8, 2025. PHOTO/ GERTRUDE MUTYABA
The mother of one of the suspects with hearing and speech impairment was heard in court pleading for his son to be released, saying he was not at the said match venue and that police picked him from her home under unclear circumstances, only to hear that he had been charged with robbery and other cases.
The presiding magistrate adjourned the case to May 20, 2025, when the suspects reappear for further mention of their cases.
The development comes days after Mr Kyagulanyi’s bodyguard, Edward Ssebufu was remanded to prison with torture marks after spending over a week in military detention.
He was also charged with aggravated robbery and assault.
The barber, also known as Eddie Mutwe was abducted by UPDF soldiers attached to the elite Special Forces Command (SFC) and his whereabouts remained unknown until days later when President Museveni’s son, Gen Muhozi Kainerugaba, 51, who serves as the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) admitted in a post on X that he was holding him in his basement where he had been made to salute Mr Museveni’s photo every day before breakfast and learning Runyankore, a local dialect.
Before, during and after the 2021 presidential polls in which Mr Kyagulanyi challenged Mr Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, several opposition supporters and close associates of Mr Kyagulanyi have been arrested and charged in several courts, including the now defunct General Court Martial.
The opposition leaders, however, say the charges are trumped up and intended to frustrate their mobilisation against Mr Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM).
