By Joseph Mary Buwule
The National Unity platform (NUP) headquarters at Kavule was on Friday engulfed in excitement as a vehicle carrying party supporters released from jail drove in .
The supporters have been in prison for six years .They all pleaded guilty and regained their freedom.
They include; Yasin Ssekitoleko aka Machete, Kalanzi Sharif, Kintu Abdallah, Gibusiwa Abdukarim, Musa Kavuma, Joseph Muwonge, Jimmy Galukande, and Patrick Mwase.
The nine are part of 28 NUP supporters who were arrested in Kalangala District in 2021 while on the campaign trail of the NUP presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, aka Bobi Wine who was President Museveni’s strongest rival.
They would later be produced before the General Court Martial in Makindye and charged with illegal possession of ammunition and treachery. The NUP dismissed the charges as fabricated.
In November 2024, the Minister of Local Government, Balaam Barugahara who at the time served as the Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, visited them in jail and asked them to plead guilty to the charges, and receive a presidential pardon or else die in prison.
19 of the 28 accepted the offer, pleaded guilty to treachery and illegal possession of ammunition before the General Court Martial, got convicted by the same court, and were later pardoned by President Yoweri Museveni.
However, nine of their counterparts refused to plead guilty to the charges, maintaining that the charges against them were politically motivated.
They remained in jail and continued to be tried before the General Court Martial even after the Supreme Court ruled that trial of civilians in military courts is illegal and ordered that all their files be transferred to civilian courts.
This prompted Machete to go on a hunger strike for days, which he later suspended after receiving medical advice from doctors.
The NUP said in a statement on Friday that, “These comrades, weighed down by the long period of detention finally accepted to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit, but the regime changed strategy and compelled them to apply for Amnesty! “
“So, the military court has this morning sent them to the Amnesty Commission from where they will be given Amnesty Certificates and released. We hope they won’t be hijacked and forcefully taken to Kyankwanzi as happened to some of the comrades previously released,” it added.