Dr Lawrence Muganga the Victoria University Vice-Chancellor, who last week was briefly detained by operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) has spoken out and distanced himself from any espionage activities.
In his very first public media interview, Dr. Muganga, who appeared on NTV Uganda’s On the Spot Show, said that up to today he can’t quite tell why of all people, he was arrested.
“I don’t know why I was arrested. To be honest, I will tell you, I don’t know anything. I was just surprised,” he told Patrick Kamara, the show’s host, adding: “I am not a bad person; I am not a spy, I am just an educator. I am a person passionate about transforming this nation.”
The university don who over and above his close shave with intelligence operatives also spoke about the region’s geopolitics and education sector said that having invested significantly in his career, engaging in espionage, moreover against his country, would be wastage.
“We invest in ourselves daily. You cannot invest 28 in yourself to end up as a spy. What are you benefiting?,” he said, adding: “I am not about to go that low; throw away everything that I have worked for to achieve, to become a spy “
Dr Muganga was last week briefly arrested and detained by CMI operatives, in a manner that has been criticised by human rights activists, members of the public and Dr Muganga’s family as unprofessional and unbefitting.
He was later released nearly 24-hours later without any charges being preferred against him after President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the First Lady, who also doubles as the Minister of Education reportedly intervened.
“I would like to thank Ugandans who came out to stand out and speak for me,” he said.
He also thanked the president and the first lady, saying: “Without them, I wouldn’t be here speaking.”
Letters to My Younger Self: Winnie Nakimuli—"You Are Worthy Simply Because You Exist"According to the official statement from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesperson, Brigadier Flavia Byekwaso, Dr. Muganga had been arrested for alleged espionage and illegal stay in the country.
According to the official statement from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesperson, Brigadier Flavia Byekwaso, Dr. Muganga had been arrested for alleged espionage and illegal stay in the country.
Dr. Muganga clarified that he is a Ugandan of Banyarwanda ancestry, who was born in Uganda and studied in Uganda’s Makerere University on a public scholarship between 1998 and 2001. Upon graduating from Makerere University he said, he failed to get a job and then went to Rwanda where he got a job as an Internal Auditor and the Rwanda Revenue Authority.
In 2005- 2007 he would return to Makerere University on World Bank and Makerere University Scholarship for a Masters in Arts (Economic Policy Management). After a couple of years of working in Rwanda, he joined left for the University of Alberta in Canada, to complete his PhD in StudyEducational Administration and Leadership, Educational Policy Studies.
He would later return to Uganda as the Vice-Chancellor, for Victoria University.
Muganga made a passionate appeal for the right of Ugandans of Banyarwanda ancestry like him, who he said get to suffer when relations between Kigali and Kampala sour.
“When two elephants are fighting, we the grass are beginning to suffer,” he said.
