Uganda Suspends Military Ties with Germany Over Alleged Subversive Activities by Ambassador
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has announced an immediate suspension of all ongoing defence and military cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany, effective Sunday, May 25, 2025.
According to Col. Chris Magezi, Director of Defence Public Information, the move follows credible intelligence indicating that the current German Ambassador to Uganda, His Excellency Mathias Schauer, has been involved in subversive activities against the Ugandan government.
“This suspension will remain in effect until the matter concerning the Ambassador’s alleged involvement with hostile pseudo-political and military elements is fully resolved,” Col. Magezi stated.
The announcement comes in the wake of a May 23 statement by the UPDF, which expressed growing concern over the rise of emerging rebel groups and the alleged illegal and covert actions of the German envoy. Col. Magezi emphasized that the Ambassador’s conduct contravenes the principles of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which governs the conduct of diplomatic missions worldwide.
Security and intelligence agencies, he noted, have in recent months apprehended and interrogated several individuals suspected of engaging in organized armed rebellion, plotting terrorist attacks in densely populated areas, and sabotaging critical infrastructure—particularly through the destruction of electricity facilities across central Uganda.
“The districts most affected by the power infrastructure vandalism include Wakiso, Mukono, Kayunga, Luweero, Nakaseke, Kiboga, Nakasongola, Mityana, Mubende, Mpigi, and the greater Masaka region,” Magezi explained.
Some of the arrested individuals are said to have identified themselves as activists aligned with opposition political groups, notably the National Unity Platform (NUP). Many have since been charged and remanded pending trial.
Col. Magezi further revealed that the Inter-Agency Security Committee—chaired by the Chief of Defence Forces and comprising the Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prisons Service, and various intelligence agencies—is actively coordinating efforts to dismantle terrorist and subversive cells. These groups are allegedly targeting vulnerable youth in urban slums around the Kampala metropolitan area, recruiting them into rebel activity.
He stated that the committee recently resolved to take stringent measures against the leaders, organisers, and financiers of these rebel operations, which are believed to be aimed at undermining the forthcoming general elections scheduled for early next year.
“There is substantial evidence linking some of the funding and mobilisation of these anti-government groups to certain European diplomatic missions operating in Kampala,” Magezi disclosed.
The Ugandan government, he added, is currently engaging the implicated foreign mission through official diplomatic channels to resolve the matter.
Col. Magezi affirmed the UPDF’s and the Inter-Agency Committee’s firm stance against foreign interference in Uganda’s internal affairs, warning that decisive action would be taken against individuals and entities attempting to destabilize the country.
He urged Ugandan youth to steer clear of groups with political agendas that seek to exploit their socio-economic challenges and instead to participate in government-led initiatives aimed at wealth creation and development.
In conclusion, Magezi stated that both foreign and local actors involved in subversive and destabilizing activities would be identified, isolated, and dealt with in strict accordance with Ugandan law.
