SFC Soldiers Grabbed Him from Our Bedroom: Lukwago’s Wife Narrates How Husband Was Abducted after Breakfast

KAMPALA, Uganda — The knock on the bedroom door was soft enough to sound familiar. Inside the house in Wakaliga on Monday morning, Erias Lukwago and his wife, Nalongo Zawedde Lubwama Lukwago, believed it might be one of their children. Breakfast had just ended. The day ahead appeared routine. The veteran opposition politician and lawyer was preparing for engagements from home.

Moments later, according to his wife, armed soldiers burst into their private space, ending the calm and triggering yet another dramatic chapter in Uganda’s long-running contest between the state and its political opponents.

“He had just finished having breakfast. We were alerted that some soldiers had unlawfully gained access to our premises. We heard the soldiers cut the wire over our fence,” Zawedde said after the operation.

What followed, she recounted, was swift and violent.

“They knocked gently on our door and we thought it was our children. I saw they were many soldiers in [elite Special Forces Command] SFC uniforms. One of them was not in uniform and I think he was the commander.”

The arrest of Lukwago, the president of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) and former Lord Mayor of Kampala, immediately sent shockwaves through Uganda’s political landscape, reviving familiar accusations of intimidation, arbitrary detention and the use of military force against opposition figures.

By mid-morning, videos and photographs from the scene had spread across social media. Witnesses reported seeing security operatives at the residence from the early hours, while journalists and neighbors described an operation involving armed personnel and unmarked vehicles commonly referred to by Ugandans as “drones.”

For Zawedde, however, the morning was not only about politics: it was also about what happened inside her home.

According to her account, she tried to stop the soldiers from entering the bedroom where her husband was located.

“I tried to resist and [the plain-clothed officer] twisted my arm before he kicked and fouled me to the ground,” she said.

The soldiers then entered the room and confronted Lukwago.

According to her narration, the operatives ordered him to surrender his mobile phone.

“They looked around and found nothing because we don’t even have any scary weapons like a gun in this house,” she narrated.

The account painted a picture of a family home transformed into the scene of a security operation in a matter of minutes.

By the time the soldiers left, Lukwago had been taken away to an undisclosed location.

The circumstances surrounding the operation remained unclear hours later. Neither police nor military authorities immediately offered a detailed explanation of the legal basis for the arrest or any charges that might have been preferred against him.

The uncertainty surrounding his whereabouts quickly fueled anger among supporters and concern among lawyers.

For many Ugandans, Lukwago’s arrest was not an isolated event but part of a broader pattern that has defined his political career.

For more than two decades, the outspoken lawyer has occupied a unique position in Uganda’s opposition politics. From his years as a legislator to his tenure as Kampala’s Lord Mayor, he has repeatedly clashed with the government, survived impeachment battles, court fights and numerous arrests, and built a reputation as one of the country’s most persistent critics of the ruling establishment.

Earlier this year, Lukwago lost his bid for another term as Lord Mayor and subsequently returned to full-time legal practice. Yet rather than retreating from public life, he emerged as a central figure in the opposition People’s Front for Freedom, taking on the role of party president while continuing to represent high-profile political clients.

In recent weeks, he had become especially visible as a member of the legal team representing opposition veteran Dr. Kizza Besigye and his co-accused Hajj Obeid Lutale in a treason case that has attracted national attention.

Just days before Monday’s arrest, Lukwago publicly criticized aspects of the judicial process in the Besigye case and argued that concerns about fair trial rights had not been adequately addressed.

That backdrop inevitably added political significance to the events at Wakaliga.

Witnesses quoted by local media said security personnel had surrounded the residence before dawn. Some reported seeing operatives scaling the perimeter fence before entering the compound.

Then came a social media post from Uganda’s military chief, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

“I have captured a F0OL and taken him to the basement!” he wrote on X shortly after the operation.

The post did not identify Lukwago. Nevertheless, many opposition supporters interpreted it as a reference to the arrest. The message intensified public debate and drew criticism from those who viewed it as inappropriate commentary on a security operation involving a prominent political figure.

As the day progressed, questions continued to outnumber answers.

Where was Lukwago being held?

What offence was he suspected of committing?

Why was a military-style operation deployed at a private residence?

By Monday afternoon, none of those questions had been conclusively answered.

What remained was the testimony of a wife who watched armed men enter her home and take away her husband.

Her account offered a deeply personal perspective on a story that was rapidly becoming a national political controversy.

In Uganda’s often turbulent political arena, dramatic arrests have become familiar headlines. Yet behind each headline is a family suddenly thrust into uncertainty.

For Nalongo Zawedde Lubwama Lukwago, the images and arguments dominating social media could not erase the memory of those moments after breakfast — the cut fence, the unexpected knock, the soldiers in the doorway and the struggle on the bedroom floor.

And for supporters of the opposition leader, the incident raised fresh concerns about the shrinking space for political dissent as the country moves deeper into an already tense political season.

Whether authorities ultimately present formal charges or offer a fuller explanation for the operation, Monday’s events have already secured a place in Uganda’s increasingly contentious political narrative — one that continues to be shaped not only in courtrooms and campaign rallies, but also in the private homes of those who challenge power.

Meanwhile, Muhoozi has responded to calls to forgive Lukwago because of his ‘worrying’ health condition. (See Details Here).