NUP to govt: Where’s Lumbuye?

As questions on the whereabouts of Turkey-based Ugandan blogger and government critic, Fred Lumbuye continue to swirl, members of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party in the diaspora have agreed to raise $40,000 for legal fees and other coordination needs for him.

The group is also said to be seeking asylum for the embattled blogger in the Netherlands and other European states.

This was revealed in a zoom meeting attended by Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake and NUP members in Germany, Uganda, UK and Turkey, among others.

However, NUP spokesperson, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi has asked government to account for Mr Lumbuye’s whereabouts.

“Three days ago, Foreign Affairs State Minister Okello Oryem said political activist Fred Lumbuye was on a flight to Uganda having been deported by Turkey and that on arrival police would hold him and produce him in court. Since government was aware of the trip, they should account for his whereabouts,” Mr Ssenyonyi tweeted Monday morning.

Mr Ssenyonyi’s statement comes days after Mr Oryem last Friday said that Mr Lumbuye was in custody of Turkish authorities with other Ugandans on charges of breach of immigration regulations and rules, among others, preferred against them by Turkey.

"They will be deported or they have already been deported and they are en route to Uganda. I wanted to take this opportunity to assure the family, friends and those who have been following this story closely that Lumbuye on arrival with his [alleged] accomplices, will be received by Ugandan authorities, they will be questioned of the various offences that they have committed and some of them have implication in Uganda and they will be arraigned in court on charges sanctioned by the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions]," Mr Oryem said.

Father speaks out

Lumbuye’s father told journalists over the weekend that he last spoke to his son last Tuesday before the reported arrest.

“No one has come out to tell us that my son was arrested. I got to know about the said arrest in the media. I heard the minister saying my son had been arrested in Turkey. I'm confident that the government will help me secure my son’s freedom. I would be very worried if he was being accused of murder. However, many people have said a lot of things about or against this government and some of them get off scot-free. If government thinks what he has been saying is wrong then they should rehabilitate him into shape. However, no one starts a quarrel without a cause," said Mr David Nsumba.

Zaake’s Turkey visit government business

Meanwhile, Uganda’s embassy in Ankara over the weekend also clarified that Mr Zaake had travelled to Turkey as part of a delegation of Parliamentary Commissioners and other members of Parliament on official Government business to undertake a benchmarking visit at the request of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, contrary to earlier reports that the MP was in the Middle East country to visit Mr Lumbuye.

“The visit is being coordinated by the Ugandan Embassy in Ankara with the relevant authorities of the Republic of Turkey. The Delegation arrived on August 5, 2021 and is scheduled to meet with the different managements of Atlas University Hospital, MedicalPark Hospital and Liv Hospital in Istanbul to discuss mechanisms of cooperation between these hospitals and Parliament. Media reports alleging that the Hon. Member of Parliament travelled to Turkey for any other purposes other than official Government business are misleading and should be disregarded,” the embassy said in a statement.

Killing president Museveni on social media

Mr Lumbuye is suspected of being the mastermind behind the rumours that President Museveni, 76, had died after contracting Covid-19.

Lumbuye had also previously announced that the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, was dead.

Just after taking oath of office following Uganda’s January general election, Mr Museveni embarked on tasks to stem the spread of coronavirus, as his main challenger, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, flew out of the country.

Rumour

Kyagulanyi’s supporters took to social media to keep the man they hoped to be president relevant in the public sphere. And the one thing that seemed to rub President Museveni the wrong way was the announcement that he had died, a rumour that circulated on social media in June and July this year.

Rumour also had it that following Museveni’s death, Ugandan soldiers were preparing for the possible takeover before they announce the president’s successor. The rumours continued even when President Museveni appeared in public at Munyonyo and Bombo in the company Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto for the launch of a biochemical factory.

Following Lumbuye’s arrest, a section of the media quoted a security source saying, “He (Lumbuye) has been tracked for some time, and he was finally arrested. Lumbuye had several players behind him. It is time for truth-telling and for him to reveal whoever was involved in feeding him with falsehoods to cause acrimony.”

Social media misuse

His arrest comes weeks after Mr Museveni tasked security forces on June 8 to urgently step up and hunt all social media users who declare prominent Ugandans dead.

“Social media has been saying that Museveni is dead. They [Security service] should locate very quickly the one who tells such a story. Security service should solve that problem. I need to check with them [security service] so that we go for you. If you’re in Europe, we denounce you and say go to hell because you are wasting people’s time,” Mr Museveni said after a section of social media users and bloggers announced him dead.

The President said there was a need to crack down on people who misuse social media, including Ugandans living abroad. He added that many of them are now using online platforms to spread baseless and tasteless news.

Apart from Museveni, some people had also posted on social media that some members of the First Family to had died.

Lumbuye, a radical supporter of Kyagulanyi, is accused of peddling falsehoods against the government of Uganda during and after elections, which the government says affected the country’s image internationally.

Reports state that Lumbuye was picked up by security agents as he returned to his residence on Tuesday evening in Turkey. But his colleagues claimed that he was arrested by the Ugandan embassy in Turkey as he tried to renew his passport.