Uganda’s political opposition has raised the alarm over a fresh wave of state-sponsored lawlessness following the daytime reported abduction of political activist Andrew Natumanya, popularly known as Ninye Tabz from Kamwokya, a known stronghold of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP).
According to top opposition officials, the prominent photojournalist and anti-corruption whistleblower was violently intercepted and whisked away by armed operatives in a notorious Toyota Hiace minibus, popularly known in Uganda as a “drone.” The vehicle is commonly associated with plainclothes state security agencies conducting extrajudicial arrests.
NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya condemned the incident on June 17, 2026, via the social media platform X. “We’ve just been informed of the abduction of Ninye Tabz from Kamwokya a short while ago. He has been whisked away in a drone. The lawlessness continues!” Rubongoya stated.
Echoing his frustration, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, also took to X to decry the targeted state crackdowns. “The senseless abductions continue, Tabz @NinyeTabz has been taken by a drone from Kamwokya!!” Ssenyonyi posted. The incident occurred amid escalating tensions and widespread local and international condemnation regarding the heavy-handed treatment of opposition figures in the country. Just two days prior, on June 15, prominent lawyer and People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) president Erias Lukwago was similarly abducted by elite Special Forces Command (SFC) operatives from his Wakaliga home.
Lukwago, who was seized while preparing to serve court documents to Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba in a high-profile treason case involving Dr. Kizza Besigye, was also bundled into a “drone” van.
Though Lukwago was eventually dumped at Kira Division police headquarters and later arraigned in court before he was remanded on charges of misprision of treason, the swift seizure of Tabz indicates that security agencies have not relented. Opposition leaders warn that these continuous, unconstitutional disappearances threaten the rule of law and political freedoms ahead of upcoming national cycles.