Inside prominent lawyer Nicholas Opiyo meeting with President Museveni 

In 2020, human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo was arrested on charges of supporting terrorism and money laundering, which crimes later on were followed by the closing and blocking of his bank accounts under the NGO known as Chapter Four Uganda.

Opiyo, who is a renowned critic of the government over human rights violations, was picked up by plain-clothed operatives from Lamaro restaurant in Kamokya, a Kampala suburb where he was having lunch with his colleagues. 

He was taken to the Police Special Investigations Department headquarters in Kireka together with four other lawyers/human rights defenders including Herbert Dakasi, Anthony Odur, and Esomu Obure, along with Mr Hamid Tenywa, a National Unity Platform (NUP) human rights Officer.

Later in a statement that was released by Chapter Four, the organization revealed that the funds mentioned in the charge sheet were a grant from one of their reputable recurring and long-standing donors, who legally supports Chapter Four’s work of promoting and protecting human rights.

As the year 2020 ended in December, Opiyo was granted bail by Justice Jane Okuo, who also ordered him to deposit shs.15 million. The court also ordered Mr Opiyo to deposit his passport in court to restrict his movements out of the country and each of the four sureties was bonded at Shs100m, not cash.

In 2021, the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew money laundering charges against Nicholas Opiyo. The decision came barely a week after the Anti-Corruption Court Judge Lawrence Gidudu gave the Directorate of Public Prosecutions an ultimatum of seven days, to commit Opiyo to the High Court for trial. He also ordered that failure to comply with his order would lead to the dismissal of the said charges.

Gidudu confirmed that the prosecution had spent almost a year saying investigations were incomplete yet Opiyo had been violently arrested way back in December 2020. 

How Opiyo met President Museveni

While appearing on the “Hard Questions Show” hosted by investigative journalist Solomon Serwanjja, Opiyo narrated his story of how he met President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni through an arrangement of his brother former EALA speaker Rt Hon Dan Fred Kidega 

During the interface with the president, he explained that they discussed the allegations against him, and the president was convinced that these were false.

“I said to him that whatever they were doing to me was unjustified, was unlawful and it was based on lies. So, we went through the lies and one of the lies that they had told him was that I had received $50 million and that I was using that money to finance the opposition,” he said.

He added, “I said to the president if there was some $50 million for me somewhere, I also want it because I had received it and you know of course we just laughed about it,”

Among other issues that were addressed to the president allegedly lies about Opiyo, was also being deeply involved in the organization and planning of execution of the people power campaign, which Opiyo replied to by saying he was just a lawyer of Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu), who is now the party president of National Unity Platform (NUP).

“I was just a lawyer for people who were being abducted, tortured, and killed. I was not involved in the politics of his campaign. Again we both laughed about it,” he explained noting that, “and then there was all this accusation about being an agent of foreigners and we took time to discuss the nature of global capital,”

During the discussion, Opiyo explained to the president that the nature of global capital is that financing happens to flow from the global north to the south, including to his government and the private sector.

He rectified to the president that receiving this money cannot mean one is a foreign agent, the government of Uganda too, would be categorized being a foreign agent.

“But I also said to him I’m a Ugandan with an agency to think that I’m just a pawn being used by somebody, just to think I’m very stupid and that I have no agency I am I’m a Ugandan like anybody else. I am doing lawful legitimate work as a human rights lawyer. I should be allowed to do my work and so he said ok, no problem have a good day,” he added.

Life in the US

In October 2021, Opiyo announced that he had left the country and taken residence at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy in the United States of America (USA). 

Opiyo who was speaking to the news agency Uganda Radio Network (URN), said that he had been admitted for a year-long Fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy, at a time when he needed much rest. He hence dismissed comments that claimed he had fled to exile.

“The fellowship came at a time when I needed time away for rest and respite following a difficult end of 2020 and a tumultuous 2021. I will use my time here to do research, move forward with my book project, and enhance our human rights network. There is always an opportunity to learn and to do so at a prestigious centre is an honour. I will return better and perhaps more knowledgeable,” he said.

The executive director of Chapter Four Uganda noted that he simply left the day charges against him were dropped, as he was late for school by three weeks. Opiyo added that he did not have much time to wait or waste and left in haste because he needed the time away so badly to refocus his mind, yet he was also afraid for his safety