Matthew Bagonza
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I What started like a threat has reportedly come to pass, as Matthew Bagonza, a close aide to Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) chairman Odrek Rwabwogo, was reportedly arrested from his home in Entebbe, hours after Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba threatened to arrest officials of the organisation over alleged corruption.
Sources familiar with the development said security personnel picked up Bagonza, who serves as head of the PACEID secretariat and has for years worked as Rwabwogo’s personal assistant.
By publication time, however, the identity of the agency that carried out the arrest, the allegations against Bagonza and his reported place of detention remained unclear. Police and the military had not issued an official statement confirming the arrest.
The reported detention came shortly after Gen Muhoozi, the Chief of Defence Forces, declared PACEID an “illegal organisation” and warned that its officials would be arrested.
“PACEID is an illegal organisation. We shall start arresting its members immediately,” Muhoozi said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“We are going to arrest ALL the members of PACEID involved in corruption,” he added.
Muhoozi later claimed that security forces had already detained one person, although he did not identify the suspect.
“We have already arrested one of the criminals. Muraregye,” he wrote, using a Runyankore-Rukiga expression meaning “good night.”
It was not immediately possible to establish whether Bagonza was the person referred to by Muhoozi.
As head of the PACEID secretariat, Bagonza has been central to the implementation of the committee’s programmes, including export-market development, engagement with international buyers, Uganda Connect trade hubs and initiatives aimed at improving the competitiveness of locally produced goods.
He is also listed among PACEID’s executive committee members, alongside Rwabwogo, vice-chairman Moses Sabiiti, secretary Rev. Dr Florence Muranga and other officials.
PACEID was commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni in March 2022 to identify international markets for Ugandan products, improve export standards and promote industrial development.
The reported arrest has therefore raised questions about the future of an organisation that operates under Rwabwogo, Museveni’s son-in-law and Muhoozi’s brother-in-law, amid an increasingly public confrontation between the army chief and the committee.
Muhoozi has also warned radio and television stations against hosting PACEID officials, saying broadcasters that allow members of the “outlawed” organisation to speak would face severe consequences.
Neither Rwabwogo nor PACEID had publicly commented on Bagonza’s reported detention by publication time, while his family had not disclosed whether he had been granted access to lawyers or relatives.
Bagonza’s arrest would be significant not only because he is one of Rwabwogo’s closest aides, but also because it would represent the first known detention following Muhoozi’s public threat against PACEID.
About the Author
