KAMPALA. Matthew Bagonza, a right-hand man of Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development chairman OdrekRwabwogo, is behind bars overalleged corruption related issues
.Bagonza was arrested fromhis home in Entebbe,Wakis District .Sources familiar with the development said security personnelpicked up Bagonza, who serves as PACEID’s head of secretariat and has longworked as Rwabwogo’s personal assistant.Bagonza’s reported arrest came hours after Chief of DefenceForces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba declared PACEID an “illegal organisation” andthreatened to detain its officials over alleged corruption.
“PACEID is an illegal organisation. We shall start arresting itsmembers immediately,” Muhoozi said in a post on X on Tuesday.“We are going to arrest ALL the members of PACEID involved incorruption,” he added.
Gen Muhoozi later claimed that security forces had alreadydetained one person ,but did notdisclose the suspect’s identity.“We have already arrested one of the criminals. Muraregye,” hewrote, using a Runyankore-Rukiga expression meaning “good night.”
He later posted a pictureof half-naked Bagonza, saying “We shallstart caning his stomach tomorrow. He will lose weight after that,” he said As head of the PACEID secretariat, Bagonza has played a centralrole in implementing the committee’s programmes, including export-marketdevelopment, international buyers’ engagements, Uganda Connect trade hubs andinitiatives intended to improve the competitiveness of Ugandan products.
He is also listed as a member of PACEID’s executive committeealongside Rwabwogo, vice chairman Moses Sabiiti, secretary Rev Dr FlorenceMuranga and other senior officials.PACEID was commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni in March2022 to identify international markets for Ugandan products, strengthen exportstandards and support industrial development.
The committee operates under Rwabwogo, Museveni’s son-in-law andMuhoozi’s brother-in-law.Bagonza’s reported detention marks the first known arrestfollowing Muhoozi’s public threat and represents a significant escalation inthe increasingly hostile confrontation between the army chief and Rwabwogo’sorganisation.
Muhoozi also warned radio and television stations againsthosting PACEID officials.“Radios and TVs that allow members of the outlawed PACEID totalk will face severe consequences,” he said.Neither Rwabwogo nor PACEID had publicly commented on Bagonza’sreported arrest by publication time.
His family had also not disclosed whether he had been allowedaccess to lawyers or relatives.The Constitution requires any arrested person to be informed promptlyof the reason for their detention, granted access to legal representation andproduced before a court within 48 hours.