Dr Lina Zedriga, the National Unity Platform (NUP) deputy president for northern Uganda, and prominent human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza have reportedly left Uganda and will not be coming back soon, impeccable sources told Bbeg Media.
Our sources told us that Dr Zedriga, who was until recently the acting NUP president, left Uganda mid-last month.
She is said to have travelled to Kenya and is considering applying for political asylum in either Europe or Canada.
Kiiza, sources said, also travelled to Kenya, where he had initially gone to attend a function.
Sources familiar with the matter say he has since informed close friends and relatives that he does not expect to return to Uganda soon.
Kiiza confirmed he had fled Uganda but did not reveal where he was.
“The persecution is enormous. They are fabricating all sorts of cases against me,” he said.
Dr Zedriga is a lawyer, former magistrate, academic and human rights advocate. Before joining frontline politics, she worked in the judicial service and later held senior positions in peacebuilding and governance programmes in Uganda and abroad.
She has been one of the leading voices in NUP and has frequently spoken on democracy, constitutionalism, human rights and the rule of law.
Earlier this year, Dr Zedriga was arrested and charged with inciting violence, charges she has denied. She was later released on bail.
Kiiza is one of Uganda’s best-known human rights lawyers. He has represented journalists, political activists and opposition politicians in several high-profile cases involving human rights and constitutional issues.
He briefly represented veteran opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye in the General Court Martial before the Supreme Court ruling that civilians should not be tried by military courts.
He was arrested in January 2025 and subsequently convicted by the military court on contempt-related charges and sentenced to nine months of imprisonment. However, he secured bail after the landmark Supreme Court ruling.
If true, Zedriga and Kiiza join several prominent politicians and activists who have fled the country due to a hostile political environment.
These include NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi, who fled to the US after the January 15 elections, saying there was a plot to kill him and harm his family.
Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the former Kira Municipality MP, left the country in mid-June for Umrah. He has not yet returned and is said to be in a neighbouring country, monitoring political events.
Sources: “Ssemujju still undecided on whether to return home after Umrah”
Before Kyagulanyi and Ssemujju left, Dr Stella Nyanzi fled to Germany in 2021, citing political persecution, and a year later, author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija joined her after he was tortured while in detention in Uganda.
