{"id":122742,"date":"2026-04-28T07:41:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case"},"modified":"2026-04-28T08:43:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:43:43","slug":"nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case","title":{"rendered":"Nyanzi Rejects State Claims of being Witness in NUP Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. <\/strong><\/span><b>Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, the Head of International Relations for the National Unity Platform (NUP), has dismissed claims by state prosecutors that he is a key witness in an ongoing case involving 21 party leaders and supporters accused of unlawful military drilling.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The case is being heard at the Kawempe Chief Magistrate\u2019s Court, sitting at Kanyanya, where the accused have been denied bail. The matter has been adjourned to May 15, 2026, for full hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Among those charged are prominent NUP figures including Eddie Mutwe and Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, alongside other party leaders and supporters.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued on Saturday via his X account, Nyanzi\u2014who is also the elder brother of NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu\u2014categorically denied ever recording a statement with any authority in connection to the case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have never recorded any statement before any authority regarding this matter,\u201d Nyanzi said, adding that he had previously been subjected to similar accusations.<\/p>\n<p>He alleged that he had in the past been abducted, held incommunicado, and tortured over what he described as \u201cmalicious charges,\u201d claims that authorities have not publicly responded to.<\/p>\n<p>Nyanzi accused state prosecutors of misusing the legal process, arguing that the case is politically motivated and aimed at targeting members and leaders of the opposition party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile I am aware that Court has power to issue summons against anybody to appear as a witness, such power should be used in the interest of justice and not enabling the prosecutors who clearly have been deployed as weapons to harass, intimidate and instill fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He further claimed that the prosecution\u2019s strategy goes beyond securing convictions, alleging it is designed to create mistrust and internal divisions within NUP.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the instant case it is very clear that the objective of the state isn&#8217;t only to persecute leaders of NUP but also cause disharmony, mistrust and break cohesion within the organization,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Nyanzi maintained that the charges against the accused are baseless and would ultimately collapse, calling the trial a \u201ccharade\u201d and urging authorities to withdraw the case and release those in custody.<\/p>\n<p>According to submissions in court, the State has listed Nyanzi as a key witness in the prosecution of the 21 accused persons, who face allegations of participating in unlawful military drilling activities.<\/p>\n<p>During earlier bail proceedings, defence lawyer Kato Tumusiime confirmed that the accused were denied bail. He said the court cited \u201cpublic interest\u201d as a primary reason, alongside concerns about the suitability of sureties presented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe bail was denied on grounds of public interest, and the court also took issue with the age of the sureties and the absence of close blood relationships,\u201d Tumusiime said.<\/p>\n<p>The court reportedly found that the proposed sureties were relatively young and lacked close familial ties to the accused, raising doubts about their ability to ensure compliance with bail conditions.<\/p>\n<p>The defence also confirmed that the prosecution has completed full disclosure of evidence, allowing lawyers to review the materials and prepare for trial.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe State has since made full disclosure, and we are now in position to study the materials, brief our clients, and prepare for the hearing,\u201d Tumusiime added.<\/p>\n<p>In a related matter, Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro faces separate charges of incitement to commit a crime. Proceedings in that case were previously adjourned due to the absence of the trial magistrate, with the court directing the State to ensure full disclosure ahead of the next hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Both cases are scheduled to proceed on May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The developments highlight ongoing tensions between the State and opposition figures, with the defence framing the prosecutions as politically driven, while the State maintains that the charges relate to unlawful activities requiring judicial determination.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Uganda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, the Head of International Relations for the National Unity Platform (NUP), has dismissed claims by state prosecutors that he is a key witness in an ongoing case involving 21 party leaders and supporters accused of unlawful military drilling. The case is being heard at the Kawempe Chief Magistrate\u2019s Court, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":122741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-122742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nyanzi Rejects State Claims of being Witness in NUP Case - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, the Head of International Relations for the National Unity Platform (NUP), has dismissed claims ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nyanzi Rejects State Claims of being Witness in NUP Case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, the Head of International Relations for the National Unity Platform (NUP), has dismissed claims ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-28T07:41:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-28T08:43:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1777353011.32237.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nyanzi Rejects State Claims of being Witness in NUP Case\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-28T07:41:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-28T08:43:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case\"},\"wordCount\":632,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1777353011.32237.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/nyanzi-rejects-state-claims-of-being-witness-in-nup-case\",\"name\":\"Nyanzi Rejects State Claims of being Witness in NUP Case - 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