Ugandan opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye and his co-accused Obeid Lutale depart the General Court Martial in Makindye, Kampala, after they were charged on offences related to security and illegal possession of two firearms and 8 rounds of ammunition on November 20, 2024. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the military court lacked jurisdiction to try civilians and ordered officials to halt all ongoing military trials of civilians and transfer them to the civilian court system, but who are some of the prominent Ugandans who have appeared before the court before?
LT Gen Henry Tumukunde
He was arrested and charged at the General Court Martial with four counts for breaching army rules over public statements he made on CBS radio talk show hosted by Mr Meddie Nsereko Sebuliba and on Radio One hosted by Mr David Mushabe on May 30, 2005. The General Court Martial convicted Lt Gen Tumukunde and sentenced him to serious warning on April 18, 2013.
Gen Kale Kayihura
On August 24, 2018, Gen Kayihura appeared before the General Court Martial presided over by then Chairman, Lt Gen Andrew Gutti to plead to charges , where he was accused of issuing firearms to unauthorised persons between 2010 and 2018, aiding and abetting the actions of subordinate police officers to kidnap and illegally repatriate Rwandan exiles, refugees, and Ugandan citizens to Rwanda. The charges were, however, withdrawn on August 30, 2023 .
Gen (RTD) David Sejusa
Former Coordinator of Intelligence Services, Gen David Sejusa, was slapped with a raft of charges at the General Court Martial and remanded to Luzira prison in February 2016. He was charged with absence without official leave, participating in political activities contrary to the UPDF Act, conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline, and insubordination. However, on August 31, 2022 Gen Sejusa and 34 other officers retired officially from the army.
Maj General James Kazini (RIP)
In December 2003, Maj Gen Kazini and a dozen senior officers were charged in the General Court Martial on charges of creation and maintenance of ghost soldiers on the army payroll. Maj Gen Kazini’s charges were dropped in October 2006.
Late Col Shaban Bantariza
Col Bantariza was charged with three counts of fraud, attempted fraud and tampering with government documents about the purchase of a Shs67 tractor for the National Institute of Leadership in Kyankwanzi District in July 2013. The prosecution claimed that while at Akamba Uganda Ltd on Old Port Bell Road in Kampala, Col Bantariza received an ITMCO tractor and its accessories donated by the Finance ministry to the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi, which he turned to private use. He was acquitted due to lack of evidence in April 2015.
Opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye (R) and his co-accused Obeid Lutale appear in the Makindye General Court Martial dock in Kampala on January 7, 2024. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Col (rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye
Col Dr Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate under the Forum for Democratic Change, is the latest civilian to be charged in the General Court Martial.
At the court martial chaired by Brigadier Freeman Mugabe, Col Besigye is facing four charges related to security, including conspiring against Uganda’s security and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
The Uganda Military tribunal panel headed by Brig Freeman Robert Mugabe (Centre). PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA.
The prosecution, led by Col Raphael Mugisha, alleged that between October 2023 and November 2024, while in Geneva, Switzerland; Athens, Greece, and Nairobi, Kenya, the accused held meetings aimed at soliciting logistical support and identifying military targets in Uganda to compromise the security of the defense forces.
A general view of court as Ugandan opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye and his co-accused Obeid Lutale are in the dock at the General Court Martial in Makindye, Kampala, where charges on offences related to security and illegal possession of two firearms and 8 rounds of ammunition were read to them on November 20, 2024. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
In January 2025, the prosecution amended the charge sheet to include Capt Denis Oola, a serving military officer, as the third accused person. The court heard that between February 2023 and November 2024, Col Besigye, Captain Oola, and Mr Obeid Lutaale allegedly held meetings in Geneva, Athens, Nairobi, and various locations in Uganda. The meetings reportedly aimed at soliciting logistical support and identifying military targets with the intent to undermine the security of the Defence Forces.
Police officers
Seven senior police Officers were charged with failure to protect war materials and aiding and abetting the kidnap and repatriation of Rwandan refugees in the Army general court Martial.
The seven officers include Nixon Agasirwe, the former head of Operations and former Commandant at the Special Investigations Unit, Col Ndahura Atwooki, the former Director of Crime Intelligence, Assistant Commissioner of Police Herbert Muhangi, the former Head of the Flying Squad.
The others are SSP Richard Ndaboine, the former head of the Cyber Crime Unit, ASP Patrick Muramira, an operative in the Flying Squad, ASP Jonas Ayebaza, a former Personal Assistant to former Inspector General of Police GenEdward Kale Kayihura and Detective Constable Muyomba Kitagenda, an operative with the Flying Squad.
The prosecution had stated that on October 25, 2013, while at Kamengo in Mpigi District, the seven police officers conspired with their former boss Kayihura to kidnap three Rwandan Refugees namely Joel Mutabazi, Jackson Kalemera and Innocent Kaliisa and conveyed them to their country against their will.
The Prosecution led by Col Raphael Mugisha tendered a March 5, 2024 letter to the the military court indicating that the Directorate of the Prosecutions in the UPDF had withdrawn the charges against the Police Officers. He didn’t specify the reasons for this decision.
