The wife of detained former Kampala Mayor and senior lawyer Erias Lukwago has petitioned the High Court in Kampala, seeking orders compelling security agencies to produce and release her husband, whom she says was unlawfully arrested and detained by military operatives.
Ms Zawedde Lukwago Lubwama filed the application on Wednesday, naming Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General as respondents.
In her application, Ms Lukwago asks the court to intervene and order the authorities to release her husband ‘dead or alive’, arguing that his continued detention is illegal, unconstitutional and in violation of his fundamental rights.
‘The Applicant remains in illegal, unconstitutional, incommunicado and arbitrary detention at a place unknown to his family, doctors and lawyers and is said to be in a military or security facility under the control of the respondents,’ she states in an affidavit supporting the application.
According to Ms Lukwago, armed men dressed in military uniform raided their home in Wakaliga, Rubaga Division in Kampala on Monday morning, scaled the perimeter wall and forcefully entered the bedroom before taking away her husband.
She says she watched as operatives bundled Mr Lukwago into a waiting vehicle, commonly known as a drone, and drove him to an unknown destination.
‘At the material time, the Applicant (Mr Lukwago) was preparing to effect service of court process in Miscellaneous Application No. 0227 of 2026 upon the first Respondent (Gen Muhoozi) in the matter where the Applicant represents Dr Kizza Besigye and others,’ she states.
Ms Lukwago further contends that Gen Muhoozi later claimed responsibility for the operation through posts on his social media platform X, where he allegedly published photographs of her husband in what she described as a frail and distressed condition.
‘The first respondent has publicly claimed responsibility for the operation, boasted of mistreating the Applicant, and published photographs depicting the Applicant in a frail and distressed condition,’ she states.
She also raises concerns about her husband’s health, saying he suffers from gastritis and is recovering from a herniated disc operation that was carried out at Fortis Hospital in Gurugram, India.
According to her, Mr Lukwago requires prescribed meals and medication administered at specific intervals, which she fears may not be available under his current detention conditions.
‘I know that the torture and humiliation of my husband, including the release of his photographs in a despicable state, some in pampers, is unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional,’ she states.
Ms Lukwago argues that the military has no lawful mandate to arrest and detain civilians and that her husband’s detention violates constitutional guarantees on personal liberty and due process.
By press time, police had confirmed that Mr Lukwago was being held at Kira Divisional Police Headquarters and was expected to be arraigned before court on treason-related charges similar to those facing opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye, his client.
Court records indicated that the application had been filed, but a hearing date had not yet been fixed by press time.
The latest development comes amid growing public concern over Mr Lukwago’s arrest, which his lawyers and political allies have described as politically motivated.