Olivia Lutaaya among 19 NUP supporters Museveni pardons

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A total of 19 National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters have been freed from jail following a pardon by President Yoweri Museveni.

A total of 16 of the 19 supporters in October 2024 pleaded guilty to charges of treason and unlawful possession of explosive devices.

Uganda Prisons Service spokesperson Frank Baine confirmed the development noting that, they left prison on Friday.

▪️ Convicted NUP supporters jailed for three months

Some of the 16 National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters sentenced to three months and 22 days for treason and unlawful possession of explosives while arriving at the General Court Martial in Makindye on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. (File/ Mpalanyi Ssentongo)

“As I speak now, they have started leaving. We received the Presidential letter and all the 19 NUP supporters who pleaded guilty are now free to leave our prison facilities,” Baine said.

The President pardoned them under Article 121 which gives him the prerogative of mercy.

These pardoned include 

1. Olivia Lutaaya
2. Rashid Segujja
3. Robert Rugumayo
4. Muhymudin Kakooza
5. Simon Kijjambu
6. Abdul Matovu
7. Mesarch Kiwanuka
8. Ibrahim Wandera
9. Asbert Nagwere
10. Steven Musakulu
11. Shafik Matovu
12. Devis Mafabi
13. Livingstone Katusabe Kigozi
14. Swaibu Katabi
15. Stanley Lwanga
16. Siraje Olabayi
17. Joseph Muganza
18. Paul Muwanguzi

The sentencing

On October 23, 2024, 16 NUP supporters who pleaded guilty to the charges of unlawful possession of explosive devices and treachery, were sentenced to three months and 22 days in jail.

They include Olivia Lutaaya, Rashid Segujja, Robert Rugumayo, Muhymudin Kakooza, Simon Kijjambu, Abdul Matovu and Mesearch Kiwanuka.

Others are Ibrahim Wandera, Asbert Nagwere, Steven Musakulu, Shafik Matovu, Devis Mafabi, Livingstone Katusabe Kigozi, Swaibu Katabi, Stanley Lwanga, Siraje Olabayi, Joseph Muganza and Paul Muwanguzi.

Jialing them for only three months and 22 days on the offence of treachery, which attracts a maximum sentence of death on conviction, the General Court Martial chaired by Brig. Gen. Freeman Mugabe said they did not waste the court’s time having pleaded guilty to the offence.

“After deducting the period you have spent on remand, this court hereby sentences each of you on count one (treachery) to three months and 22 days’ imprisonment and on count two (unlawful possession of explosive devices) each of you is sentenced to caution,” Mugabe ruled.

Justifying the sentence, Mugabe said they have families to look after and there is no known previous criminal record against them.

It is a general principle of law that an offender who pleads guilty may expect some credit in the form of a discount on the sentence although it is at court's discretion.

NUP lawyers Benjamin Katana and George Musisi were in court as the sentence was being handed down to the convicts.

Pleading guilty to the charges by the group caused mixed reactions from the public.  

Some said it was wise for them to plead guilty to the charges whether they committed them or not to secure their freedom having been on remand for over four years while others argued that pleading guilty to such charges has far-reaching consequences not only for them but also NUP and its top echelon.

Background

On October 14, this year, the group pleaded guilty and sought for the presidential pardon.

Some of them were arrested in November 2020 from Kalangala district on the campaign trail of Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine, the NUP president.

Consequently, they were arraigned before the General Court Martial and charged with unlawful possession of 13 explosive devices. In May 2021, an additional charge of treachery was slapped on them.

The prosecution said between November 2020 and May 2021, the group and others still at large in diverse districts of Jinja, Mbale, Kireka, Nakulabye, Kawempe, Nateete and Kampala Central, they were found in possession of 13 explosive devices which is a monopoly of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF).