“Aggravated Robbery is the new tool in a dictator Museveni’s handbook… Thirteen comrades were violently arrested in Masaka, then charged with stealing a mobile phone and 100,000 shillings cash! Can you imagine the criminality and abuse of court processes? Until we rise up and say ENOUGH to this nonsense!”
— President Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (X (formerly Twitter))
1 White-Collar Theft of Justice
On 8 May 2025, Ugandans awoke to another blistering statement from President Kyagulanyi. His X-post exposed the regime’s latest trick: slapping opposition supporters with “aggravated robbery”—a capital offence that puts bail out of reach and pushes cases straight to the High Court.
The charge sheet may read “mobile phone—UGX 100 000,” but the real heist is of freedom itself.
2 The Masaka 13—Football Fans Turned Felons
The newest victims were thirteen National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters arrested while watching a community football match in Masaka. Within 48 hours they stood before Masaka Magistrates’ Court, accused of a petty phone-snatch worth barely USD 25—and remanded to prison all the same.
Court reporters noted bruises and torn shirts; family members were barred from photographing the suspects. No stolen phone was produced in evidence. Yet the magistrate invoked aggravated-robbery provisions and ordered detention.
3 A Pattern Cast in Iron Bars
This is no isolated abuse. In February the same court sent Achileo Kivumbi, Gaddafi Mugumya and Grace “Smart” Wakabi—all civilian bodyguards to Kyagulanyi—back to jail on identical charges. Their case file includes six counts that range from “simple robbery” to “aggravated robbery,” ensuring months behind bars before trial. (Monitor)
Days earlier, activist David Musiri was locked up on yet another aggravated-robbery docket that cites two missing phones and UGX 150 000 cash. (Nilepost News)
The template is simple:
- Grab a vocal government critic.
- Invent a low-value theft.
- Label it “aggravated” to trigger maximum penalties.
- Remand without bail while “investigations continue.”
4 Why “Aggravated” Robbery?
Uganda’s Penal Code bumps a petty theft to aggravated status if knives, injury, or group force are alleged. The state adds those buzzwords at will, automatically transferring the file to the High Court—where hearing dates arrive slower than rainy-season roads.
For Dictator Yoweri Museveni and his son Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the tactic solves two problems:
- Silence high-profile activists without formal treason indictments that attract global headlines.
- Project an image of fighting crime, not crushing dissent.
5 Kyagulanyi’s Rebuttal: Facts vs. Farce
President Kyagulanyi’s post names earlier victims—Eddie Mutwe and others—who were tortured for weeks before the same charge appeared on their files. In each instance:
- No forensic evidence is presented.
- Complainants withdraw or never appear.
- Police “investigations” drag past the constitutional 48-hour limit, yet magistrates rubber-stamp remand.
The result is pre-trial punishment disguised as due process—an echo of apartheid-era tactics called “justice by remand.”
6 People Power’s Next Steps
- Document every arrest: names, dates, alleged items stolen, and court rulings.
- File habeas-corpus petitions within 24 hours for missing activists.
- Petition the Chief Justice to create a special docket for political-rights cases, forcing speedy trials or dismissals.
- Pressure donors: tie military aid to demonstrable reductions in pre-trial detention and torture claims.
- Mobilise peacefully—football fans, boda-boda riders, market vendors—to show the courts that the public is watching.
7 A Call Beyond Borders
Uganda’s Constitution and the UN Nelson Mandela Rules forbid using detention as punishment. Yet the regime cashes donor cheques while jailing citizens over a single phone SIM card.
We invite Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the African Union Commission to send observers to Masaka and track the Masaka 13. Each day behind bars is a data point in a growing file for future tribunals.
8 “Enough Is Enough”
President Kyagulanyi’s closing words—“Until we rise up and say ENOUGH to this nonsense!”—are more than a slogan. They are marching orders for a generation told that liberty is criminal and silence is patriotic.
The regime can inflate charges, but it cannot arrest arithmetic: thirteen unjust arrests add millions to a rising tally of state crimes.
#FreeTheMasaka13 | #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners | #PeoplePower
Sources
- Kyagulanyi, R. (2025, May 8). Aggravated Robbery is the new tool… [X post]. (X (formerly Twitter))
- Daily Monitor. (2025, Feb 26). Three Bobi Wine civilian guards remanded on robbery charges. (Monitor)
- Nile Post. (2025, Apr 22). NUP cites persecution as Musiri is charged with aggravated robbery. (Nilepost News)
