Uganda’s military has suspended defense cooperation with Turkey amid escalating demands that Ankara hand over a prominent blogger and outspoken critic of President Yoweri Museveni.
Army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Museveni’s son and widely viewed as his likely successor, has repeatedly pressed Turkish authorities to extradite Fred Lumbuye, a Ugandan political commentator living in Turkey.
Ugandan authorities accuse Lumbuye of offenses including incitement to violence, spreading false information and computer misuse. Police said in 2021 that 15 case files had been opened against him.
Hundreds of supporters of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), a political pressure group chaired by Kainerugaba, demonstrated outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala on Friday to demand Lumbuye’s extradition.
“The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has with immediate effect suspended all and any Defence and Military cooperation with the Republic of Turkiye,” army spokesman Chris Magezi said in a statement.
“The measure will remain in force until outstanding issues of mutual defence and military cooperation between the two countries are resolved,” Magezi added, without providing further details.
Kainerugaba reposted the statement on X.
Uganda and Turkey have maintained close defense ties for nearly a decade, covering military training, arms and surveillance equipment, technology transfers and cooperation on counterterrorism and security.
The decision follows threats by Kainerugaba to cancel a $3 billion railway contract with Turkish construction company Yapı Merkezi and expel Turkish nationals from Uganda.
© Agence France-Presse
