Security Operatives Tortured Him. I Saved Him: Museveni Defends Stephen Nuwagaba, Accuses Andrew Mwenda of “Covering Up” Crimes by Security Personnel

President Yoweri Museveni has defended Stephen Nuwagaba, a young Ugandan who has recently attracted public attention, saying the man came under his care after allegedly suffering torture, maiming and threats from elements within the security forces.

In a lengthy statement responding to journalist Andrew Mwenda, Museveni dismissed claims that Nuwagaba poses a threat to the state, arguing that the bigger challenge facing Uganda is corruption and criminality among some individuals within government institutions.

Museveni accused Mwenda of creating unnecessary controversy around Nuwagaba after allegedly failing in previous attempts to discredit Uganda’s pharmaceutical innovators.

“The great journalist Andrew Mwenda is back with his schemes,” Museveni said.

“Having failed to destroy our promising pharmaceutical industry by calling our innovators Magoola and Senfuka con-men, and declaring me senile, he has now discovered a new national emergency in Uganda. This is the young man known as Nuwagaba Stephen.”

The President said Mwenda had portrayed Nuwagaba as a danger to the country by claiming that the young man had laid “siege” on State House and security agencies.

“This young man has laid ‘siege’ on State House and the Security Agencies. There is big danger to the country,” Museveni said, before rejecting that description.

He said Nuwagaba’s connection to State House was not because of political influence or an attempt to interfere with security institutions, but because he had sought help after allegedly becoming a victim of torture.

Museveni: Nuwagaba came as a torture victim

Museveni described Nuwagaba as a young man in his mid-twenties who approached him while fleeing from people he accused of attempting to silence him.

“Nuwagaba is a young man in his mid-twenties who came to me as a fugitive, a victim of torture and maiming, whom some elements in the Security Services were trying to silence, including threatening with death,” Museveni stated.

The President said Nuwagaba had required medical treatment for injuries and trauma allegedly caused by torture.

“He has actually been a patient on account of torture and maiming (okumuzya), and trauma because of the torture, for many of the months he has been under my care,” Museveni said.

“I had to send him to the hospitals in Uganda and abroad to save his life. He seems to have improved, but some of the maiming is still there.”

Museveni said the alleged involvement of security personnel in such acts was a betrayal of the principles that guided Uganda’s liberation struggles.

“The terrible thing is that these alleged torturers and maimers were belonging to our security forces. Is this what we and the People of Uganda fought for?” he asked.

Museveni recalls Amin killings and Luwero Triangle

In defending his position against torture, Museveni referred to historical events during Uganda’s previous political conflicts, including the execution of FRONASA members during Idi Amin’s regime and deaths recorded during the Luwero Triangle war.

“Do you know how much we, and all the People of Uganda, sacrificed to get freedom from killers, torturers and dictators?” Museveni asked.

He listed former comrades who were killed during earlier struggles, arguing that their sacrifices should not be followed by a return to abuses by state institutions.

Museveni also referenced killings during the 1981–1986 conflict in the Luwero Triangle, saying Ugandans should not again experience torture and brutality.

“All these People did not suffer so that Ugandans are tortured, maimed or traumatized, again,” he said.

Museveni rejects torture as a security strategy

The President said torture, killings and mistreatment of political opponents were both morally wrong and strategically harmful.

“In the last 56 years I have been fighting, I have never tortured, or ordered anybody to torture, an opponent, because of the reasons mentioned above,” Museveni said.

He, however, acknowledged that some individuals within the security establishment had become corrupt or acted against the values of the National Resistance Movement.

“However, the FRONASA, the NRA, the UPDF always win. However, the NRM/NRA/UPDF had been infiltrated by some corrupt and non-patriotic elements that were committing crimes with impunity,” he said.

Museveni said security agencies must fight crime without committing violations themselves.

“Nevertheless, the UPDF and the other security forces, in fighting impunity, they should not commit their own crimes, such as torture, extra-judicial killings, etc,” he added.

President challenges Mwenda on intelligence claims

Museveni also challenged Mwenda’s arguments about how intelligence networks operated during the National Resistance Army bush war, saying the movement relied on organised intelligence systems rather than only local supporters.

“Right from the beginning, we were using humint and signint (human intelligence and signals intelligence),” Museveni said.

He cited operations including attacks on Kabamba and Masindi barracks as examples where intelligence played a key role.

“Attacks on Kabamba, Masindi, etc. were all humint led,” he said.

Museveni argued that intelligence structures existed during the bush war and continued after the NRM came to power through agencies such as the Internal Security Organisation (ISO), External Security Organisation (ESO), Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and the Police.

However, he said some officials had become compromised.

“Some security personnel have become corrupt, or have been compromised by the enemy,” Museveni said.

Museveni says Nuwagaba is not Uganda’s main problem

The President dismissed suggestions that Nuwagaba represents a major national threat, saying Uganda’s bigger challenges include corruption, abuse of office and criminal networks.

“The reality on the ground is that the main problem of Uganda is not Nuwagaba seizing State House and the Security Forces, but the criminals, including some in the Security Forces and other organs, that have been blocking the flow of information about the criminals, covering them up, and ensuring information does not reach leaders like the President,” he said.

Museveni questioned why Mwenda’s investigative work had not focused on corruption allegations in other sectors.

“Why doesn’t the investigative team of Mr. Mwenda, that is always spying on Museveni, pick-up the corruption in PDM, in the roads, etc., etc.?” he asked.

He said communities had raised concerns about corruption in government programmes, including the Parish Development Model, government recruitment and infrastructure projects.

“During the campaign, I encountered massive complaints about PDM in Maracha, Kapchorwa-Kween, Iganga, Buwambo, Kawempe, etc,” Museveni said.

Informal intelligence and State House information flow

Museveni defended the role of informal sources of information, arguing that they sometimes become necessary when official structures fail to act.

“It is because the formal structures do not do their work that the informal come up to the President,” he said.

He cited several examples where information from unofficial channels allegedly helped expose problems, including demonstrations, corruption allegations and security matters.

Museveni also referred to the arrest of opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye, questioning why formal structures had taken time to handle the matter.

“The big case of Besigye. Why has it taken 2 years, Besigye refusing to go to court? What have the formal structures been doing about it?” Museveni asked.

He suggested that criticism of informal intelligence networks could discourage people from reporting wrongdoing.

“Could it be that the aim of Mwenda was to frighten the patriots from exposing corruption and criminality?” Museveni said.

Weeks ago, Museveni responded to Andrew Mwenda’s article that he was too old to rule and that conmen were taking billions from him in the name of fake projects. Andrew Mwenda later apologized to Museveni. (See Details Here and There).