Chapa Karuhanga detained in Tanzania, visited by lawyer
Chapa Karuhanga. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Former Guinean dictator Moussa Dadis Camara, 58, and the other defendants face a litany of accusations from murder to sexual violence, kidnappings, arson and looting, and Camara himself is charged with "personal criminal responsibility and command responsibility" over the crimes.
Mr Chapa Karuhanga, a founding member of one of Uganda’s opposition party the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), has been detained in an immigration facility in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, for the second day over unclear cases, but he has been visited by a lawyer.
Mr Nicholas Kamukama, the brother to Mr Karuhanga, said although they have been unable to reach him, they were informed that he is detained and the lawyer is working to secure his freedom and rights.
“A lawyer has visited him and talked to him. We still don’t know about the case he is being held on,” Mr Kamukama said Thursday.
Mr Karuhanga was intercepted by Tanzanian Immigration officers as he was about to fly out to Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday evening.
The State Minister in charge of Regional Cooperation, Mr John Mulimba said on Thursday told this publication that the Uganda High Commission informed him that Tanzanian authorities confirmed holding Mr Karuhanga.
“Our High Commission in Tanzania said they were not told why they are holding him. I have also not been able to establish whether he was arrested on the request of Uganda or not,” Mr Mulimba said.
Efforts to establish whether Uganda Police Force logged an appeal against Mr Karuhanga were futile. The police spokesman Fred Enanga hasn’t responded to our messages about the issue since Wednesday.
Mr Karuhanga is the managing director of Serefaco Consultants Limited which conducts feasibility studies in energy, especially petroleum extraction, and environment management. The firm established its presence in Tanzania in January 2022 and has been active in the oil extraction studies.
Mr Kamukama couldn’t rule out that the arrest of his brother could be related to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) debate that is going on in the European Union Parliament, Tanzania and Uganda.
Last week, the European Parliament asked Uganda and Tanzania to delay the building of the pipeline to allow further studies on the dangers it could pose to the environment and humans.
Uganda and Tanzania are opposed to the European Union Parliament resolution and both countries insisted that they would continue with the project as scheduled.
