BREAKING: Museveni Appoints Juma Witonze as State Minister for Internal Affairs

What the report says

Nile Post reported that President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Juma Witonze Kisekka as Uganda’s State Minister for Internal Affairs. The report identifies Witonze as a diplomat and politician who serves as Chief Coordinator of the Patriotic League of Uganda in the Greater Mpigi region. He has also sought election to the East African Legislative Assembly and had recently expressed interest in a by-election for the same body.

The appointment follows the failed approval process for Dr Lawrence Muganga, who had earlier been nominated for the same post. According to Nile Post, Parliament’s Appointments Committee did not clear Muganga after raising concerns linked to his citizenship status. The outlet said the committee relied on a Ministry of Internal Affairs verification report that associated Muganga with Ugandan, Canadian and Rwandan citizenship.

Nile Post further reported, citing sources familiar with the proceedings, that other nominees questioned over dual citizenship presented evidence that they had started formal renunciation processes with foreign authorities. Muganga, the report said, disputed that he remained a Rwandan citizen, but committee members sought documentary proof before recommending approval. The issue was then referred back to Museveni.

The development matters because it fills a pending vacancy in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a portfolio connected to immigration, citizenship, policing oversight and internal security administration. It also places another official linked to the Patriotic League of Uganda into a Cabinet role, according to the Nile Post report.