Ssemujju 'hiding' in neighbouring country, says he is studying Uganda's 'new order'

Former Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has revealed that he has left Saudi Arabia and is now staying in a neighbouring country.

For now, he said, he is studying what he described as Uganda's "new order" following the latest crackdown on opposition politicians.

Ssemujju disclosed his whereabouts in a social media post on Friday while commenting on the re-arrest of People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) president Muwanga Kivumbi, who was picked up by security operatives just hours after his release from prison. 

He noted that Uganda's political landscape had fundamentally changed during the five months his colleague spent in Kitalya Prison.

"My brother @MuwangaMKivumbi. While you were away in Kitalya Prison for 5 months, a new order was proclaimed in Uganda. Criticising members of Museveni family means you don't like the country and it is therefore a criminal offence," he wrote.

"Muzungu colonial law was replaced with traditional/mob justice" and alleged that security agencies now hand suspects over to the military before any legal process.

"In the new order even when you are intercepted by police, it first hands you over to the military to undergo Bachwezi prison initiation ceremony in the basement," he said.

Having left the Middle Eastern country, Nganda disclosed that he is now somewhere in East Africa.

He however, did not reveal in which country he’s hiding in, whether and when he’s been returning home.

"I am also in a neighbouring country trying to learn them. I will through our lawyer Medard Sseggona send you a list of what I have recorded so far," he added.

On June 19, Ssemujju announced that he had travelled to Mecca, saying he had missed one of Erias Lukwago's court appearances because he was undertaking the pilgrimage.

While in the holy city, he posted a video in which he said he had travelled to pray for himself and Uganda, insisting he was not afraid of President Yoweri Museveni or Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

He criticised Museveni over what he described as growing political repression, accusing him of praising violence and defending his son's conduct.

"There will be a time when we shall all go to God's 'basement' even if you have 'basements' here on earth where you hold people," he said.

"I pray for myself and I have no fear in me because there is no one that God will not take away."

His departure from Uganda came days after Gen Muhoozi publicly suggested that Ssemujju and Nakawa West MP Joel Ssenyonyi would be "next" following the arrest of Lukwago, prompting speculation that the veteran opposition politician had temporarily left the country because of the threats.