JUST IN! Muhoozi Commandos Arrest Elderly Ex Minister Matembe After Spending 2 Days Hiding At A Friend’s Home – How She Was Nabbed

Outspoken veteran politician, former Ethics and Integrity Minister, and pioneer women’s rights activist Dr. Miria Matembe has been arrested by security forces. The arrest ends a tense two-day manhunt during which she remained in hiding following a high-profile security raid on her Luzira residence.

Confirming the development, popular media personality JK Kazoora, who is a nephew to Matembe, revealed that the former minister was intercepted and taken directly to a military facility in Mbuya, Kampala.

“As of two hours ago, she was arrested and was taken to Mbuya,” Kazoora stated in an urgent update to family and media.

“They have given her medication. From tomorrow or Tuesday, we shall know if she is going to Luzira [Prison] or be released. We pray that all will be okay by Tuesday.”

The arrest brings a dramatic turn to a saga that began on Friday, June 26, 2026, when armed military personnel and plain-clothed operatives riding in a notorious security vehicle—locally referred to as a “drone”—invaded her home. While her family initially feared she had been abducted during her morning exercise, it has now emerged that Matembe narrowly escaped the initial dragnet.

According to Kazoora, Matembe was out jogging when she received an urgent tip-off that security forces were breaching her property. In a desperate bid to evade capture, the 72-year-old activist hid inside a cluster of nearby trees, watching as operatives searched her house.
Her husband, Nehemiah Matembe, reported that the operatives turned their house upside down without identifying themselves or providing a legal warrant, eventually leaving empty-handed. Once the coast was clear, Dr. Matembe sought temporary refuge at a neighbor’s house before quietly relocating to a friend’s home.

The breakthrough for intelligence agencies came after what family members describe as a cruel deception. Kazoora explained that he had engaged senior government officials who falsely assured him that security agencies were no longer interested in tracking or arresting the elder statesman.
Relieved by the news, Kazoora communicated the reassurance to family members and associates. However, security agencies allegedly used the communications to intercept and track her network.

“I personally messaged the family members, but as of this morning, they arrested two of Auntie’s friends,” Kazoora lamented.

“I think they forgot to use WhatsApp calls or Telegram; they used normal calls. They [security] tracked them and got them in. These were the ones that revealed to the security the whereabouts of Matembe.”

The sweep also entangled prominent civil society leaders. Earlier on Monday, human rights defender Dr. Sarah Bireete and corporate lawyer Eunice Musiime were briefly arrested and detained by security operatives. Operatives also raided Dr. Bireete’s home, reportedly ransacking the property and tearing up parts of a bedroom floor in a frantic search for the missing former minister. It remains unconfirmed if Bireete and Musiime are the specific friends whose call data led operatives to Matembe’s final hiding spot.

Dr. Miria Matembe is a monumental figure in Ugandan history. A key architect of the country’s 1995 Constitution and the first Minister for Ethics and Integrity (1998–2003), she famously broke ranks with President Yoweri Museveni in 2003 over the controversial removal of presidential term limits.

In recent months, her criticisms have intensified. Matembe has used media appearances to fiercely condemn a wave of enforced disappearances, alleged human rights abuses, and the expanding political influence of the military, specifically targeting statements made by Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Her arrest comes amidst heightened political tensions in Kampala, following the recent high-profile remand of Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago on treason-related charges and the deportation of Kenyan Senior Counsel Martha Karua.