The chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has dismissed Michael Katungi from his role as Commissioner for External Affairs and removed him from the movement’s Central Committee.
“I have decided to remove, Michael Katungi, as Commissioner 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,” Gen. Kainerugaba announced.
The move comes in the wake of serious allegations against Katungi, who is wanted by U.S. authorities for allegedly conspiring to supply military-grade weapons—valued at approximately $58 million—to Mexico’s notorious Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
The indictment, unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, names Katungi alongside Bulgarian national Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, Kenyan national Elisha Odhiambo Asumo, and Tanzanian national Subiro Osmund Mwapinga.
Prosecutors accuse the group of attempting to provide an arsenal including machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, sniper rifles, anti-aircraft weapons, and night vision equipment to the CJNG, which was designated a foreign terrorist organisation in February 2025.
Court documents allege a test shipment of 50 AK-47 assault rifles was smuggled from Bulgaria using falsified End-User Certificates from Tanzania to mask the true destination. The purported arms pipeline also extended to surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft drones.
Katungi, a prominent figure in Uganda’s diplomatic and security circles, has previously served as deputy head of mission at Uganda’s High Commission and advised the African Union in Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
In 2024, he took on a political role as PLU’s diaspora head, a position seen as giving him significant influence abroad.
However, Katungi denied the allegations, calling them “mere accusations” and “malicious.”
“Ignore with contempt deserved, malicious accusations,” Lt Katungi told ChimpReports via WhatsApp.
Recently, Katungi surprisingly cancelled a planned September visit to the U.S. to meet Ugandans in the diaspora, though it remains unclear whether the decision was linked to the indictment.
“This is to notify all our members, especially the @Plugandaa US chapter, about the postponement of our September convention. Being an election year, we need to consolidate all our efforts on the re-election of our beloved CIC and @NRMOnline Chairman. We need all hands on deck,” Katungi wrote on X on August 7, 2025.
“It will take place mid-next year, 2026, in Michigan [USA] with the same organising committee under Griffin Kahakani and Team. More members will be brought on board and assigned. I thank you,” he added.
PLU Secretary General and Kasambya County MP David Kabanda defended him describing the indictment as an act of blackmail.
“Yes, PLU will investigate the source of the blackmail and the intention plus the sponsors,” Kabanda said on August 10.
If convicted in the U.S., Katungi and his co-accused face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and could be sentenced to life, reflecting the gravity of the charges and their international implications.
