Ugandan CW Sekitoleko Detained, Tortured, Following Intervention in Illegal Land Grab

Michael Sekitoleko, founder of the Uganda Catholic Worker, tells Roundtable that he was released on Friday following a 28-day detention in jail following his intervention in an illegal land seizure.

Sekitoleko said he was met by police at his home on June 9 and detained without explanation for three days in the Kiboga jail before being charged with “Unlawful Society/Inciting Violence.” Seven other activists involved in the intervention were arrested at the same time, he said. Sekitoleko and the activists had been supporting 37 peasant families who were being threatened with the loss of their land in an illegal land seizure near Kiganzi village.

Sekitoleko reported that during his detention he and the other activists were subjected to severe mistreatment, including torture and systemic corruption. He said he was pressured to make false confessions by the police, who demanded that he abandon his advocacy efforts.

The conditions in detention were dire, he said, with prisoners being fed out of the same bucket that was used for the toilet. Sekitoleko and the seven other activists who supported the threatened families were isolated and tortured, he said. The police frequently transferred him between stations to further break his spirit.

Sekitoleko said he never received a court hearing; instead, on the seventh day, the authorities demanded one million Ugandan shillings (about $250) for his release.

The police deleted records of Sekitoleko’s activities with the villagers from his phone before they let him use the phone so he could call friends and relatives to raise the money demanded for his release. A copy of the police record provided to Roundtable by Sekitoleko characterizes the money as a bond; Sekitoleko calls it a bribe.

Concerned about his rapidly deteriorating health, Sekitoleko managed to raise the money in order to be released. The terms of his release require him to report to the Luwakaka Police Station weekly beginning next Friday. He has yet to have a court date scheduled.

This isn’t the first time Sekitoleko has been arrested for intervening on behalf of subsistence farmers fighting land seizures. He was previously detained for six weeks in 2017 for bringing pro bono lawyers to educate peasants about their rights under Ugandan law.

Illegal land seizures are common in Uganda, often driven by powerful individuals exploiting vulnerable communities. The lack of legal protection and rampant corruption enables these unlawful practices, leaving many families displaced and without recourse. The issue has been the focus of international NGOs such as GRAIN and the Slow Food Foundation and studies by Cambridge University and Friends of the Earth International. Land grabbing not only displaces subsistence farmers and indigenous people, but worsens the effects of climate change, according to the Pulitzer Center. Despite a 2013 presidential statement officially condemning the practice, the problem persists.

Sekitoleko is appealing for financial help so he can receive medical treatment as well as international contacts to help protect him from further human rights abuses. Interested donors can reach out to hello@catholicworker.org for details.