A 35-year-old blogger has been remanded to prison after appearing before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court on allegations of sending false distress signals on TikTok, where he reportedly claimed to have stolen Shs7 billion from Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye, the head of the Office of the National Chairman (ONC).
Abdallah Bogere, commercially known on social media as “True Leader,” appeared before Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa on Friday. He was formally read the charge of sending false distress signals, an offence contrary to Section 82 of the Uganda Communications Act, Cap 103. Bogere denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution contends that between August 3 and 4, 2026, within Kampala and Kabale districts, Bogere and others still at large knowingly transmitted false information using TikTok accounts handles @trueleader123 and @Planned Mulekwa. In the video recordings, the accused allegedly claimed that he and his accomplices had stolen Shs7 billion from Ms. Namyalo.
Chief State Attorney Joan Keko informed the court that police inquiries into the matter were nearing conclusion and sought a brief pause in proceedings to update the court on final progress. Ms. Keko submitted that investigations are near complete and prayed for an adjournment so that the state could update the court on the progress of the investigations.
Following the plea, defence lawyer Ms. Lydia Nakimpi immediately moved court to grant her client bail. The proceedings hit a minor procedural query when Chief Magistrate Kidasa inquired whether the defence team had properly uploaded a notice of instructions onto the Judiciary’s Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS). Ms. Nakimpi clarified that while the notice of instructions was pending final upload, all primary supporting bail documents had already been successfully submitted to the system.
In support of his bail application, Bogere presented three sureties to the court. Among them was Aisha Bahati, a shoe trader from Kisenyi I, Muzaana Zone, who also serves as the Woman Councillor for Kampala Central Division and identified herself as the accused person’s in-law. The second surety, Zebia Juuko Lwantale, a businesswoman and landlord owning properties along Nakibinge Road in Namugongo, introduced herself as Bogere’s aunt. The third surety was the accused person’s wife, Farihah Namayanja.
While introducing himself during the court proceedings, Bogere identified himself as a businessman involved in social media creation, adding that he currently works with Senior Presidential Advisor Peace Mugamba. Ms. Nakimpi urged the court to consider the three individual substantial sureties and exercise its discretion to release her client on temporary freedom.
However, the state strongly objected to handling the bail hearing immediately, arguing that law enforcement required time to perform background checks on the details provided by the defence. Ms. Keko argued that the prosecution was not ready to respond to the application, noting that while they had been served with Local Council letters and business address details for the applicant and sureties, time was needed to verify them before making an authoritative response.
Ms. Nakimpi countered by requesting that should the magistrate grant the state’s request for verification, the adjournment be kept as short as possible to prevent extended detention.
Chief Magistrate Kidasa subsequently remanded Bogere and adjourned the matter to August 17, 2026, when the prosecution is expected to deliver its response to the bail application following the verification of the sureties’ credentials.