Uganda Suspends Military Cooperation With Turkey as Political Tensions Rise

Uganda has suspended all military and defence cooperation with Türkiye, putting a major security partnership between the two countries on hold as tensions over a Ugandan political critic continue to grow. The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) announced the suspension on September 19, saying cooperation would remain frozen until outstanding issues between the two countries are resolved. The military did not specify exactly what those issues were or when cooperation could resume.

Uganda and Türkiye have maintained military ties since 1996, when Türkiye began providing training to Ugandan special forces. The relationship expanded in 2016 after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Uganda, when both countries signed a military cooperation agreement covering training, intelligence, peacekeeping, logistics and defence technology. Over the years, the partnership grew to include defence equipment, military training and discussions around Turkish defence manufacturing in Uganda.

The latest dispute centres largely on Fred Lumbuye, a Ugandan political commentator and outspoken critic of President Yoweri Museveni who lives in Türkiye. Uganda wants Lumbuye extradited to face charges including incitement and computer-related offences. Türkiye has not handed him over. The issue has become increasingly heated, with Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, publicly pressuring Türkiye over the matter.

On September 18, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala demanding Lumbuye’s extradition. The following day, the UPDF announced the suspension of military cooperation. However, the UPDF has not officially stated that Lumbuye’s case was the direct reason for the suspension, so the connection remains an important but unconfirmed part of the dispute.

The suspension could affect military training, defence equipment, technology transfers and other joint security programmes between the two countries. It also comes at a time when Türkiye has been expanding its defence partnerships across Africa, while Uganda has been developing stronger military and economic ties with Ankara. The dispute could therefore spill into other areas of the relationship, including trade and investment, if tensions continue.

Both countries now have an interest in preventing the dispute from destroying years of cooperation. Uganda wants its concerns over Lumbuye and other outstanding issues addressed, while Türkiye must deal with the matter within its own legal and diplomatic framework.

A return to dialogue could allow the two countries to resolve the dispute without sacrificing their wider military and economic relationship. For now, however, a partnership that took decades to build is on hold.

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