By Faith Nyasuguta
Turkish authorities have set free a Ugandan opposition supporter accused of spreading the word that President Yoweri Museveni had passed away earlier this year.
It is alleged that blogger Fred Lumbuye was the mastermind behind the rumors that the Ugandan president had succumbed to Covid-19.
Since his arrest on August 3, Lumbuye had been detained at the Kocaeli Foreigners Detention Centre in Turkey.
Ugandan shadow minister for Foreign Affairs, Muwadda Nkunyingi, who doubles as a Kyadondo East legislator revealed that Turkey informed the blogger’s legal team of his release.
“I have talked to him, and he is at his home in Istanbul, Turkey. He is in good spirits and happy to be back home,” Nkunyingi, who was part of the legal team challenging his detention, said.
Mr. Nkunyingi says that Lumbuye was nabbed over immigration issues and accusations of inciting violence among the Ugandans residing in Turkey.
The Turkish authorities on the other hand say that blogger Lumbuye was detained on charges of an expired visa and for overstaying in the nation.
Following allegations on Museveni’s death, rumor also had it that Ugandan soldiers were preparing for the possible takeover before they announce the president’s successor.
The rumors continued even when President Museveni appeared in public at Munyonyo and Bombo in the company of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto for the launch of a biochemical factory.
It is alleged that Lumbuye had also previously announced that the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, was dead yet he was not.
