Uganda Suspends All Military Cooperation With Turkey Over Refusal to Extradite Government Critic

Uganda’s army has suspended all defence and military cooperation with Turkey with immediate effect, citing unresolved issues between the two countries. The announcement was made on Saturday, September 19, 2026, in a statement issued by Colonel Chris Magezi, the Acting Director of Defence Public Information at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.

The suspension will remain in force until outstanding issues concerning mutual defence and military cooperation between Uganda and Turkey are resolved. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces did not specify the nature of the outstanding issues or indicate which particular military cooperation programmes are affected.

The decision follows rising tensions over Uganda’s demand that Ankara hand over Fred Lumbuye, a prominent political blogger and fierce critic of President Yoweri Museveni, who has lived in Turkey for years. Lumbuye faces 15 criminal charges in Uganda, including incitement to violence, spreading false information and computer misuse.

On Friday, September 18, thousands of Ugandans affiliated with the Patriotic League of Uganda, a civic and political pressure group associated with General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, marched to the Turkish Embassy in Kampala demanding Lumbuye’s extradition. The embassy had announced a temporary closure ahead of the demonstration.

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Kainerugaba, President Museveni’s son and the Chief of Defence Forces, has repeatedly clashed with Turkish authorities over efforts to extradite Lumbuye. In July 2022, a Turkish court ruled against Uganda’s formal request to extradite him.

The dispute did not begin with Lumbuye. In April 2026, Kainerugaba publicly demanded that Turkey pay Uganda a $1 billion “security dividend,” arguing that Uganda had borne a heavy military burden in Somalia while Turkish commercial interests benefited from the resulting stability. He threatened diplomatic consequences before the posts were deleted.

In June 2026, Kainerugaba announced the unilateral cancellation of a €2.7 billion contract with Turkish construction firm Yapi Merkezi to construct the Malaba-Kampala Standard Gauge Railway. The move marked a staggering U-turn, as Kainerugaba had hosted a high-level delegation from the firm just months earlier.

Uganda and Turkey have maintained close defence ties for nearly a decade, covering military training, arms and surveillance equipment, technology transfers and cooperation on counter-terrorism and security. A 2016 Military Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding provided the framework for broader cooperation.

The conflicting signals from Kampala have raised questions about who speaks for Uganda. On September 16 and 17, First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga was in Istanbul promoting trade and investment. On September 18, President Museveni met Turkey’s ambassador in Kampala. The same day, PLU supporters marched on the Turkish Embassy. The following day, the military suspended defence cooperation.

Trade between the two countries more than doubled in 2025 to more than $160 million, and more than 100 Turkish companies operate in Uganda. The suspension puts on hold a relationship that Uganda had hoped would help build domestic defence-industrial capacity.

The UPDF has not given a timeline for the resumption of cooperation, stating only that the suspension will remain in place until the outstanding issues are resolved.

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