Anti-government writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija arrested

Shortly before his arrest he posted on his socials, “I'm under house arrest. Men with guns are breaking my door. They say they're policemen but are not in uniform. I've locked myself inside.”

His lawyer Mr. Eron Kiiza says he’s being detained at a Bukoto/Naguru police facility in charge of crime intelligence. 

Kakwenza is known for his provocative anti-government writings.

His first book “The Greedy Barbarian” landed him in jail where he was allegedly tortured for a week during the lockdown in 2020.

His second book, equally as searing to the government of President Yoweri Museveni, “The Banana Republic” chronicled his alleged torture after being arrested for “The Greedy Barbarian.”

This year in October, he received The Pen International Awards for Courage.

PEN International is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere.

Upon receiving the award, Kakwenza posted on Facebook: “Honoured to receive an award from PEN as an international writer of courage -- at the British Library yesterday.

This is not just because I have been Gen. Yoweri Museveni's critic for 21 years, but for having the courage to narrate the harrowing ordeal of torture that I suffered upon publishing my debut novel, The Greedy Barbarian.

Instead of running away from my country despite my tormentors still being around and in power, I lived to tell the ugly tale of torture in my book, Banana Republic. I boldly wrote my story without fear as a solace that the pen is mightier than the sword.”