LUMBUYE: Heavy deployment at Turkish Embassy in Kampala

Lumbuye before he was picked up in Turkey

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | There is a heavy security presence along the roads leading to the Turkish embassy on plot 9 at Prince Charles drive in Kololo ahead of the deportation of popular Ugandan blogger, Fred Kajjubi, alias Lumbuye.

Reports from the Ugandan community in Turkey’s capital Istanbul show that Turkish police arrested the blogger on Tuesday at the request of Ugandan authorities. Lumbuye has been a thorn to the Ugandan government because of endless criticism on different social media platforms.

On Friday evening, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Okello Oryem, said the Turkish authorities would hand over the blogger to Ugandan security this morning at their embassy to face trial for inciting sectarianism using social media.

Lubuye’s social media followers have been rallying each other to stage protests at the Turkish embassy in Kololo against what they called human rights abuse.

Our reporter visited the Turkish embassy where he saw the heavy presence of officers from the Police Field Force-FFU, military and Local Defense Units.

The officers had also deployed in other parts of Kololo backed with armored and patrol vehicles. The officers also turned away pedestrians and motorists and advised them to return and use other roads.

Last month, President, Yoweri Museveni asked security agencies to deal with Ugandans in foreign countries posting fake news on social media that dents his image and that of the country.

Security officials accused Lumbuye and several bloggers based in Europe for masterminding social media rumours about the purported death of President Museveni.

The Spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, Charles Twine explains that the government has plans of going through known protocols to arrest all Ugandans using social media to tarnish the country’s image.

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