Tensions flared outside the Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday when plainclothes security personnel forcefully seized two individuals—including a local councillor—shortly after a court session in the ongoing treason and misprision of treason case against opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye and others.
The dramatic incident occurred just after Besigye’s legal team, led by prominent Kenyan advocate Martha Karua and Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, addressed the media outside the court premises.
Grade One Magistrate Jonathan Tiyo, substituting for the absent Chief Magistrate Esther Nyadoi, postponed the case to May 29, 2025. As attendees began leaving, unidentified men in civilian attire grabbed two individuals and pushed them into a white Toyota van—commonly known as a “drone”—parked across the street.
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Witnesses reported that the van quickly drove off, heading toward the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI). Tensions escalated when an angry supporter punched one of the operatives, prompting Joint Anti-Terrorism (JAT) officers in a pickup truck to escort the vehicle away.
Although counter-terrorism police at the scene attempted to give chase, they failed to intercept the van. Harold Kaija, secretary general of the Patriotic Front for Freedom (PFF)—a splinter group from the FDC—identified one of the abductees as Katongole, a councillor from Kira Division.
Reports indicate that Katongole had earlier clashed with members of the public after confronting an alleged government agent suspected of secretly photographing the crowd. The suspected spy was removed from the courtroom and labeled a regime informant.
Other witnesses claimed Katongole and another individual were leading anti-government chants outside the courthouse, expressing defiance against President Yoweri Museveni and his son, CDF Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, while voicing support for Besigye’s cause.
Human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza, who says he was briefly detained during the commotion but later freed, criticized the actions as illegal and threatening.
“Courts should be havens of justice, not places where people are snatched by security forces,” Kiiza told reporters. “Such arrests frighten the public and undermine confidence in legal institutions.”
The use of “drone” vans has become a chilling emblem of political repression in Uganda, often associated with forced disappearances of critics and opposition activists. Despite legal challenges and public outrage, accountability for these abductions remains scarce.
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