By Aggrey Baba
Fresh from Kitalya Prison, NUP Deputy President for Buganda and former MP for Butambala Muhamad Muwanga Kivumbi has returned to the political arena with a blunt challenge the NRM government and president Museveni, urging him to stop imposing himself on Ugandans and instead allow political actors to compete fairly for the right to lead the country.
Kivumbi made the remarks at Kavule on Wednesday, barely a day after the Butambala Chief Magistrate’s Court granted him bail following months in detention.
His return to public life comes after a turbulent legal journey that saw him arrested in January following the 2026 elections, in which he lost the MP seat to NRM-leaning independent candidate Erias Mukiibi Sserunjogi, and charged with terrorism-related offences arising from an election violence which led to the death of seven people inside Kivumbi’s house.
He was later granted bail by the International Crimes Division of the High Court in July but was re-arrested shortly afterwards and later charged in Butambala with incitement to violence and managing an unlawful society, crimes Kivumbi has since denied.
On Tuesday, Butambala Grade One Magistrate Amina Wahab granted him UGX3 million cash bail, with his sureties required to execute non-cash bonds. He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents and restricted from travelling to Butambala except for family-related functions.
But rather than using his first major appearance after prison merely to celebrate his freedom, Kivumbi used the occasion to send a wider message about Uganda’s political future.
He said politicians opposing the ruling government should not be treated as enemies simply because they have different ideas about how the country should be governed.
“We are not your enemies; we simply have a different vision for this country,” Kivumbi said, further challenging Museveni and his government to persuade Ugandans instead of using force or other methods to impose themselves on the population.
“You are free to support whoever you want, but let us compete fairly. Nobody should impose themselves. Let us compete and persuade the people,” he said.
Kivumbi invoked the image of a garden of roses to make his point, arguing that democracy should provide room for different political ideas to germinate, grow and compete for public support.
He said every generation has a responsibility to leave behind a better country for the next generation, describing the political struggle as a “generational assignment” to deliver Uganda to its citizens. The NUP deputy president also said his party was prepared to accept defeat if it lost through a genuinely fair political process.
His remarks came against the backdrop of his own prolonged detention, which has made him one of the latest opposition figures (particularly from the NUP) to emerge from the legal battles that followed the 2026 elections. Kivumbi’s supporters have repeatedly described his detention as politically motivated, while the State has maintained that the cases before court involve criminal allegations that should be determined through the judicial process.
The former Butambala MP, however, used his return to public life to argue that political disagreements should be settled through constitutional means, saying that Uganda’s future cannot be secured by treating political competition as a war between enemies.
Kivumbi’s return, for NUP, is likely to add fresh energy to the party’s political activities, particularly after his prolonged absence from the political scene.
But his legal troubles are not over. He remains on bail in the Butambala case and still faces the separate terrorism case before the International Crimes Division of the High Court, and the allegations against him remain before court and have not been determined.
Muwanga Kivumbi, meanwhile, is back outside prison and has immediately resumed making the political argument that has defined much of his career, that Ugandans should be allowed to choose their leaders freely and that political competition should be based on persuasion, constitutionalism and the will of the people. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
