Arrest of Prominent Figure Brings Controversy in Kampala

Security forces in Uganda have arrested Lawrence Muganga, one of the country’s top academics, on suspicion of espionage, the military said. The vice-chancellor of the private Victoria University was taken in broad daylight on Thursday at the facility’s main building on one of the busiest streets in the capital, Kampala. Amateur video posted on social media showed plain-clothes gunmen forcing a man said to be Muganga into a type of van known in Uganda as a “drone“, which is associated with abductions of government opponents. Commentators on social media suggested he had been taken because he is seen as being close to the military intelligence service of Uganda’s regional rival Rwanda. One of Uganda’s most prominent businessmen, Frank Gashumba, backed the campaign, claiming ethnic Rwandans suffer “dehumanisation” in Uganda.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA