KAMPALA — Former Victoria University vice chancellor and presidential nominee for State Minister for Internal Affairs, Dr. Lawrence Muganga, has broken his silence following the rejection of his appointment by Parliament’s Appointments Committee, declaring that Banyarwanda are full Ugandan citizens who should not be subjected to discrimination or selective application of the law.
In a strongly worded statement released after his vetting process ended in controversy, Muganga accused Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa of displaying hostility toward members of the Banyarwanda community during the proceedings and vowed that the community would not remain silent in the face of what he described as unfair treatment.
“We Banyarwanda are Ugandans. We were born here. We pay taxes here. We build institutions here. We have given our lives to serve this nation,” Muganga said.
The dispute stems from President Yoweri Museveni’s recent nomination of Muganga to serve as State Minister for Internal Affairs in the new Cabinet unveiled following the 2026 general elections.
However, his appointment ran into trouble during the parliamentary vetting process after questions emerged regarding his citizenship status and allegations that he had previously held multiple citizenships, an issue that members of the Appointments Committee reportedly argued required clarification before his approval.
The committee ultimately rejected Muganga’s nomination, dealing a significant setback to one of the country’s most prominent education leaders and administrators.
Since the decision, Muganga has openly blamed Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, who chairs the a top leader on the Appointments Committee, accusing him of leading what he described as a hostile and unfair vetting process.
In his latest statement, Muganga suggested that the opposition he faced went beyond legal questions about citizenship and reflected a deeper prejudice against Banyarwanda Ugandans.
“I personally have spent decades working tirelessly for Uganda, conducting thousands of interviews, engaging with thousands of people, sitting in hundreds of boardroom meetings across 56 countries. In all those years and in all those rooms, I have never once encountered the kind of hostility that Hon. Tayebwa directed at me,” he said.
“Not once. And to this day, I cannot understand the depth of hatred he carries toward Banyarwanda.”
Muganga said other members of the Appointments Committee witnessed the exchanges during the vetting exercise and could attest to the manner in which he was treated.
“I do not have to take my word for it. Ask the other members of the Appointment Committee, including those from the Opposition side. They were there. They witnessed it,” he stated.
The controversy has sparked wider debate on social media and within political circles about citizenship, national identity and the treatment of minority communities in Uganda.
The Banyarwanda community, which is largely spread across most of the districts in the southern part of the country, has periodically faced questions regarding citizenship and belonging despite many members having been born and raised in Uganda for generations.
Muganga argued that citizenship rights should not depend on ethnicity and warned against what he called the selective application of laws against specific communities.
“Uganda belongs to ALL its citizens equally. Banyarwanda included. We are not second class citizens. We will not be treated as such,” he said.
He further argued that legal provisions should not be used to target any particular ethnic group, insisting that all Ugandans deserve equal protection under the Constitution.
“This selective and discriminatory application of the law must be called out loudly, and it must stop. The law is not a weapon to be aimed at one community of our own people,” Muganga added.
The former academic leader maintained that his record of service and contribution to national development speaks for itself, saying he has dedicated much of his professional life to advancing Uganda’s education sector and representing the country internationally.
As debate over his failed nomination continues, Muganga says the issue is now larger than his personal political ambitions and touches on the rights and dignity of an entire community.
“We are Ugandan. We belong here. And we will not be silenced,” he declared.
The Deputy Speaker has not publicly responded in detail to Muganga’s latest accusations. Meanwhile, attention is likely to shift to President Museveni’s next move regarding the vacant ministerial position and whether another nominee will be presented to Parliament.
Read about Dr Muganga’s accusations against Thomas Tayebwa Here.
Although President Museveni has previously claimed that many people in central Uganda who claim to be Baganda are Banyarwanda, he has also told Banyarwanda to choose between Uganda and Rwanda, as reported Here and There.
Last year, Museveni issued 15 directives on the issue of Banyarwanda citizenship in Uganda, after many years of what was interpreted by some as suspicion against Banyarwanda in security and immigration circles. (See Details Here, There and Over There).
