Politics 18 June 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)

Lukwago Abduction Signals Dangerous Political Low, Editorial Warns

The abduction of opposition lawyer Erias Lukwago and subsequent social media gloating by a military chief represent a disturbing escalation, according to an editorial in the Daily Monitor. The article urges leaders and citizens to speak out against such disregard for due process, warning that silence amounts to complicity. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/letters/lead-with-respect-for-due-process-5500690

The recent violent abduction of prominent opposition lawyer and former Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago has been decried as a dangerous low point in Uganda’s political landscape. Reports indicate that armed military operatives forcibly removed Lukwago from his residence using a notorious vehicle, an act carried out in broad daylight.

Adding to the gravity of the situation, the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, publicly shared images of a blindfolded Lukwago on social media. He reportedly boasted about holding the lawyer to inflict “hurt and pain,” a display that has drawn widespread condemnation.

An editorial in the Daily Monitor emphasizes that true leadership is underpinned by moral authority, respect for the rule of law, and a genuine mandate from the people. It argues that resorting to lawless detentions, online taunts, and physical torture reveals a significant deficit in leadership. The article expresses deep concern over the deafening silence from various societal leaders – religious, cultural, and political – in the face of this alarming escalation.

The piece serves as a stark warning to those who remain silent out of comfort or fear, asserting that such inaction will not offer protection in the long run. Authoritarian systems, it contends, are insatiable and tend to eventually consume even those who enable them through compliance. The atrocities and disappearances occurring today may well extend to the doors of the complacent tomorrow, regardless of wealth or proximity to power.

Uganda stands at a critical juncture, where remaining a passive bystander is no longer a neutral position but an act of complicity. When the judiciary is disrespected and civilian structures are supplanted by military decrees, the republic itself is imperiled. The editorial concludes by urging citizens not to be bystanders, stressing that the “basement” of oppression cannot contain all Ugandans.