Editorial Team/Staff Writers
On June 15, operatives of the Special Forces Command, an elite unit of the UPDF, abducted former Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago from his home in Wakaliga, on the outskirts of the city. Days later, he was arraigned before a magistrate’s court in Makindye over misprision of treason, or the offence of knowing that someone has committed or is planning to commit treason and deliberately failing to report it to the authorities.
Mr Lukwago is a co-lead lawyer representing Dr Kizza Besigye, who is facing treason charges alongside his associate Obeid Lutale and a UPDF soldier.
Both Mr Lukwago and Dr Besigye were senior members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), but they now belong to the People’s Front for Freedom, a party they formed after quitting the FDC.
Political rise
Until January 2026, Mr Lukwago had been mayor of Kampala, a position he first assumed in 2011. He won all mayoral elections until he was defeated in the January election by the National Unity Platform’s Ronald Nsubuga Balimwezo.
Mr Lukwago was elected mayor after serving as MP for Kampala Central, a seat he won in the 2006 parliamentary elections on the ticket of the Democratic Party. While in Parliament, he served on two committees: Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Local Government Accounts.
Born in May 1970 in Kabungo Village, Kalungu District, Mr Lukwago is a lawyer and politician. In November 2013, he was voted out by councillors after a tribunal found him guilty of incompetence and abuse of office.
The Kampala Capital City Authority councillors had voted to impeach him, but he was reinstated the same month after the High Court ordered the then Minister for Kampala, Frank Tumwebaze, to halt implementation of the tribunal report that had paved the way for his censure.
Mr Lukwago comes from a large family and is reported to have more than 20 siblings. In 1995, he joined Makerere University to study law, graduating with a bachelor’s degree. He later pursued a Diploma in Legal Practice at the Law Development Centre and became an advocate in 1998.
He has since worked as the managing partner at Lukwago and Company Advocates, a Kampala-based law firm specialising in constitutional law and human rights law.
Public battles
As Kampala mayor, Mr Lukwago was frequently at loggerheads with President Museveni, who viewed him as a front for opposition interests. Mr Museveni once mocked him, saying his position was no longer as important as the mayoral roles of the past.
In 2025, Mr Lukwago was at the centre of disputes at the Kampala Capital City Authority council over the redevelopment of Nakivubo Channel and land in Nakawuka.
Councillor Faridah Nakabugo publicly accused him of being involved in irregular land compensation schemes and raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, citing his law firm’s involvement in the matter. She further alleged that individuals close to him had sought compensation for land under dispute.
Mr Lukwago denied the accusations, and no legal action was taken against him.
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