I’ll not denounce my leader – Olivia Lutaaya speaks out after release from prison

National Unity Platform (NUP) supporter Olivia Lutaaya has vowed to stand by her party and its leader following her release from prison, saying her freedom carried no conditions.

Addressing journalists at the party headquarters in Kavule, Lutaaya said she had admitted charges of unlawful drilling. She rejected any suggestion that her release required her to abandon NUP.

“I will not denounce my leader with whom we were on that day. I belong to the NUP and all the charges brought against me were about NUP,” she said.

Lutaaya urged authorities to release her co-accused who deny the charges. She maintained that some had not attended the activities that led to the case.

“We who were here admitted but those who weren’t have denied the charges and deserve to be out,” she said.

The case concerns a parade held at NUP’s Makerere-Kavule headquarters on February 12, 2025, to mark party president Robert Kyagulanyi’s birthday. Prosecutors alleged that participants conducted military-style exercises without authorisation. Lutaaya initially denied the charges after her arrest in November 2025. 

She also questioned the prosecution in light of reports about proposed military training for Senior Six students. She argued that drilling itself should not constitute an offence.

NUP secretary general David Lewis Rubongoya welcomed her return in an October 30, 2026 post. He said she had spent five years in detention at different times and described the charges as “trumped up”.

Lutaaya previously secured a presidential pardon in November 2024 after pleading guilty in a separate military court case involving treachery and unlawful possession of ammunition.