“Thank you comrades in South Africa for adding your voice to the call to #FreeEddieMutwe and all other political prisoners. We must each do something to stop this brutality. Uganda shall be free!”
— President Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (X post, 4 May 2025)
1 Red Berets in the Rainbow Nation
On a bright Johannesburg afternoon, the crimson wave of People Power spilled onto the streets. South-based Ugandans—students, workers, exiles—hoisted placards that screamed “FREE EDDY MUTWE,” “MUSEVENI LEAVE MY COUNTRY,” and “DOWN WITH MUHOOZI!” Raised fists and vuvuzelas fused into one thunderous message: Uganda’s struggle does not stop at her borders.
Photos from the rally show:
- A sea of red T-shirts emblazoned with the National Unity Platform (NUP) logo.
- Banners linking father and son—“BLOODY CRIMINALS: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.”
- Handmade signs quoting a Luganda proverb: “Every day for the thief, one day for the owner.”
Each poster, each chant, was a megaphone aimed at the State House in Kampala.
2 Why the Diaspora Matters
For 39 years, Dictator Yoweri Museveni weaponised distance to blunt dissent—jailing those at home and ignoring those abroad. That strategy is collapsing. Every airport lounge, lecture hall and factory floor now doubles as a front-line for truth.
Diaspora activism does three things the regime fears:
- Keeps Uganda in international headlines, making repression costlier.
- Mobilises resources—legal funds, medical aid, tech tools for secure communication.
- Puts pressure on host governments to review military aid, visas and banking for regime elites.
When South African media covered the Johannesburg protest, millions heard names the dictatorship wants erased—Eddie Mutwe, Achileo Kivumbi, Gaddafi Mugumya, Grace Wakabi—and learned why they languish in cells.
3 Eddie Mutwe: The Man Behind the Hashtag
Edward Ssebuufu—known to the nation as Eddie Mutwe—is more than President Kyagulanyi’s chief bodyguard. He is a symbol of ordinary courage: a boda-boda rider who rose to protect crowds from teargas and live bullets.
- Kidnapped: 27 April 2025
- Tortured: Electric shocks, waterboarding, crushed joints
- Paraded in court: 5 May 2025, limping, head swollen
- Falsely charged: “Aggravated robbery” of a funeral mourner’s phone
His real crime? Guarding the hope of a free Uganda.
4 President Kyagulanyi’s Message—And Ours
The President’s X post is not a thank-you note; it is a mobilisation order:
“We must each do something to stop this brutality.”
Whether you are in Cape Town, Calgary or Kampala, “something” can be:
- Organise a solidarity picket outside your Ugandan embassy.
- Flood social media with verified updates; algorithms amplify noise.
- Write to your MP or congressperson demanding aid conditionality.
- Support legal-defence funds for detainees’ families.
- Document abuses—photos, testimonies, medical reports—for future tribunals.
5 South–South Solidarity: A Historic Echo
South Africa’s own liberation was turbo-charged by global pickets at Shell stations and Barclays branches. Today, Ugandans walk the same road, their chants bouncing off the Constitutional Court that once tried apartheid criminals. History’s wheel turns; tyrants fall.
6 Next Stop: Global Red Monday
The Johannesburg organisers announced “Global Red Monday”—a coordinated day of action on 27 May 2025, one month after Mutwe’s abduction. Wherever you are, wear red, post a photo with the hashtag #FreeEddieMutwe, and tag your local news outlets. Let Dictator Museveni and his son Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba see a planet tinted crimson with resistance.
7 A Freedom Fighter’s Pledge
I, Fred Lumbye, pledge that I will not rest while even one comrade rots behind bars for daring to dream. Diaspora or homeland, our mission is one:
We either build a Uganda where no one is jailed for their conscience, or we die trying.
Raise your voice. Lift your placard. The world is listening.
#FreeEddieMutwe | #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners | #PeoplePower
Source
- Kyagulanyi, R. (2025, May 4). “Thank you comrades in South Africa…” [X post with rally photos].
