The Chairman of Uganda’s Patriotic League (PLU) and Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has dismissed Michael Katungi from his position as Commissioner for External Affairs and removed him from the PLU Central Committee.
In a statement on his X (formerly Twitter) platform, Gen. Kainerugaba announced: “I have decided to remove Michael Katungi as Commissioner for External Affairs of PLU. He is also removed as a member of our Central Committee. From now on, only the Chairman will appoint the foreign committees of our movement.”
Earlier, the General had indicated that he was awaiting an internal report regarding allegations against Katungi before making a final decision. “I am waiting for an internal report on our Commissioner for External Affairs. As Chairman of PLU, I shall take the final decision on his position amongst us. Our members do not have to be concerned about anything,” he stated. He further emphasized PLU’s principles, saying: “PLU is a patriotic movement of selfless nationalists! We do not care for money or material things. We care only for Uganda and her people.”
Katungi’s dismissal follows his indictment by the United States government for allegedly conspiring to supply Mexican drug cartels with military-grade weaponry. According to an unsealed indictment from the U.S. Eastern District of Virginia, Katungi, alongside Bulgarian arms trafficker Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, Kenyan national Elisha Odhiambo Asumo, and Tanzanian national Subiro Osmund Mwapinga, was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to possess firearms—including machine guns and destructive devices—in furtherance of drug trafficking, and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
The indictment alleges that in September 2022, the group plotted to illegally supply the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG)—one of Mexico’s most violent cartels—with weapons such as rocket launchers, grenades, anti-aircraft guns, and sniper rifles. Katungi has previously denied the accusations, calling them “blackmail.”