Kampala, Uganda
The purportedly missing National Unity Platform supporter from Kagadi district is spotted organizing demonstrations in Toronto-Canada against what is termed ‘poor leadership and governance’ back home.
Charles Byamukama, a former resident of Kyakijoka LCI, Kiryanjagi Parish, Kabamba Sub-county in Kagadi District has been missing since December 2023.
His family reported the matter to Kabamba Police Station for professional search and tracing, but all was effortless.
This website has learned that Byamukama fled to Canada seeking political asylum after facing intense persecution by joint security teams.
According to sources close to the family, Byamukama became a vocal critic of the NRM government and staunch supporter of the National Unity Platform (NUP), led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine.
He was a candidate for harassment and intimidation from security forces for his political activism.
It is believed that he coordinated NUP supporters in the MiddleEast specifically Iraq during the 2021 general elections.
Upon his return, he was repeatedly arrested and detained at Kagadi police station without charges opened against him in February 2023.
“Police and other security agencies continued hunting and trailing him until he disappeared completely around December 2023,” Micheal Akampulira, a family member notes.
Nonetheless, Akampulira notes that suspicious persons in plain clothes believed to be security personnel have continued to monitor and at times invade his home asking about his whereabouts.
However, this month, Byamukama posted on his Facebook account messages inviting Ugandans in Canada to take part in the demonstration, a confirmation that is out of the country.
On his Facebook page, Byamukama notes that his persecution is a stark reminder of the ongoing political tensions in Uganda, where dissenting voices are often silenced through force and intimidation.
Byamukama left behind three children without any parental support, as his wife had also left the country to work in Saudi Arabia.
The children are currently living with their aging grandmother, without any hope of seeing their father soon.
Human rights organizations have long criticized the Government of Uganda’s handling of political opponents and the devastating consequences of political persecution.
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