CMI releases university don after public outcry

Dr Lawrence Muganga’s friends pitched the manner in which he was arrested, relating it as a perfect match of what Late Idi Amin Dada, the former president of Uganda, did to Makerere University Vice Chancellor in the 1970s.

Dr Muganga, who had been arrested by operatives of Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) on allegations of espionage (for an undisclosed country) and working in Uganda illegally, was on Friday night released by the CMI after a public outcry, including the academia and Banyarwanda community in Uganda. 

“I am back. The most important thing is you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am still alive and determined. I can always count on you, brothers and sisters. This man here (Mr Frank Gashumba) and others out there, you are great and I am always indebted,” Dr Muganga said in a video shared by Mr Gashumba, who is his friend. 

On Thursday, CMI operatives dressed in civilian clothes armed with guns raided the office of Dr Muganga, the Vice Chancellor of Victoria University, and accosted his female police bodyguard before arresting them. 
They were bundled into a private car and detained in un-gazetted custody. 

Dr Muganga’s friends shared video clips of men in civilian clothes raiding a university and roughing up workers and a female police officer within the confines of the university before arresting him and his female police bodyguard, Barbra Nagudi.  

In October 2019, following an incident of soldiers’ raid at Makerere University, President Museveni had directed the military not to raid and carry out arrests within universities, but leave such operations to the police.

On Friday, Mr Isaac Semakadde, the lawyer of Dr Muganga,  compared the arrest to the Amin era.  
“The Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Professor Frank Kalimuzo, was a great friend of Idi Amin. Sometime back in the 1970s, he was kidnapped and disappeared never to be seen again. There is a direct connection between what happened to Frank Kalimuzo in the 1970s to what happened to Dr Lawrence Muganga,” Mr Semakadde said.

Mr Semakadde said he couldn’t comment on the issues of his client’s alleged illegal stay in the country because neither police nor the immigration directorate had complained. 

Dr Muganga is Ugandan citizen by birth and Canadian citizenship by registration. Both countries allow dual citizenship. 

The law
According to the Section 19(a) of Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control (Amendment) Act 2009, a Ugandan citizen, who desires to acquire the citizenship of another country while retaining his or her citizenship of Uganda, shall give notice in writing to the Uganda immigration board. 

He or she must share with Uganda immigration officers a copy of the application for citizenship of that other country. Failure to give a notice to the immigration board attracts a jail term of two years or a fine of Shs3 milion on conviction. 
It isn’t clear whether Dr Muganga fulfilled all those since he got Canadian citizenship in 2016 after the amended Immigration Act had come into force.

Mr Gashumba said they suspect that the arrest of Dr Muganga was connected with their advocacy to change the name of the Banyarwanda community in Uganda’s Constitution to “Abavandimwe” because of what they claim is persecution and marginalisation by Ugandan authorities.