Former Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago was yesterday charged with misprision of treason, becoming one of the few lawyers who have been charged with a similar offence to the clients he has been representing. He was charged two days after he was abducted by armed men from his Wakaliga home in Rubaga Division, Kampala.
Misprision of treason is the criminal offence of knowing that someone has committed or is planning treason, and deliberately failing to report it to the authorities. Unlike treason, which involves actively betraying your country, misprision is about concealing the information or staying silent when you have a duty to speak.
Yesterday, the prosecutors claimed that between 2021 and November 2024, Lukwago knew that Dr Kizza Besigye, Joel Wakayima, Frank Kihehere Atukunda and Mr Obeid Lutale intended to commit treason, but failed to report the information to authorities.
A review of witness statements that have so far been disclosed in court in the Besigye treason case shows that Mr Lukwago’s name appears once in the testimony of Andrew Wilson, also known as Orlando, an American national who claims to operate a company involved in investigations and tactical firearms training.
In his statement to investigators, Wilson recounts a series of alleged interactions with Wakayima, Opposition politician Salaam Musumba and later Dr Besigye. The witness claims that after being introduced to Ms Musumba through Wakayima, they discussed plans that included training individuals in journalism and covert communications to gather intelligence on government officials and supporters. It is during this account that Mr Lukwago’s name surfaces.
According to Wilson, Ms Musumba proposed holding a meeting in Brussels and indicated that she intended to invite several people, including Mr Lukwago, former Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, Lubega Mukaku and political analyst Charles Rwomushana. ‘Salaam then requested Joel Wakayima to put me in contact with Dr Besigye, which Joel did. Indeed, on a date I cannot recall, we had an online meeting with Dr Besigye, which led to a physical meeting a few weeks later in Geneva, Switzerland,’ Mr Wilson avers in his police statement.
He adds, ‘In my first physical meeting with Dr Besigye, he asked me to help him to set up militant networks in Uganda to cause destabilisation of the country. Here, I met Dr Kizza Besigye with Joel Wakayima and Frank Kihehere Atukunda. I booked and paid for Dr Kizza Besigye’s flight from Entebbe to Geneva as he had requested.’ However, Wilson’s police statement does not indicate that the proposed meeting took place, nor does it allege that Mr Lukwago attended any meeting with him.
Neither does the witness claim that Mr Lukwago participated in discussions concerning militant activity, intelligence gathering, or efforts to destabilise the government. The allegations regarding militant networks arise later in Wilson’s police statement and relate to a separate meeting he says took place in Geneva, Switzerland, involving Dr Besigye, Wakayima and Atukunda.
Notably, Mr Lukwago is not mentioned as having attended the Geneva meeting.
What is misprision of treason?
Misprision of treason is a criminal offence that arises when a person knows that another individual has committed, is committing, or intends to commit treason but deliberately fails to report that information to the authorities.
Unlike treason, which involves direct participation in acts aimed at overthrowing or waging war against the government, misprision of treason does not require active involvement in the alleged plot.
Instead, the offence focuses on concealment or silence.
Under Ugandan law, a person can be charged with misprision of treason if they are aware of plans to commit treason and fail to disclose that information to a minister, a magistrate, the administrative officer, or a police officer in charge of a station.
The prosecution is mandated to prove that the accused person had actual knowledge that treason was being planned or had been committed, and also that the accused deliberately failed to report that information to the relevant authorities.
The offence is distinct from being an accomplice or co-conspirator. A person charged with misprision of treason is not accused of participating in the alleged treasonous activities but of withholding information about them.
The charge is relatively rare in Uganda and has only occasionally been invoked in politically sensitive prosecutions involving allegations of threats to national security.
Of life imprisonment
Section 25 of the Penal Code Act that addresses the concealment of treason, provides that: “Any person who knowing that any person intends to commit treason does not give information thereof with all reasonable dispatch to the Minister, an administrative officer, a magistrate or an officer in charge of a police station, or use all reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence of treason commits the offence of misprision of treason and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.”
Misprision of treason attracts up to imprisonment for life, while treason attracts up to death by hanging.
Misprision of treason can be handled by a Chief Magistrate’s Court, while treason is strictly handled by the High Court.