Security services in the country are scrutinizing the activities of certain foreign individuals and organizations that are covertly trying to influence the outcome of the 2021 elections.
These individuals and NGOs are linked to Western embassies in the country, according to a highly placed source.
So far one person, Mr Marco de Swart, who ostensibly came to work for Oxfam but has been linked to the internal unrest in Egypt in 2011 has been blocked from re-entering Uganda.
He had apparently travelled to the Netherlands for a holiday but it is believed he was actually meeting his handlers. Intelligence agencies discovered that he helped organize the massive demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square that brought down the government of former President Hosni Mubarak.
According to high level security officials who spoke to Kampala Post on condition that their names are not revealed because they are not authorized to comment on the matter, this wide-ranging security operation to protect Uganda's democracy is ongoing.
"Meddling in the country's elections and trying to subvert the constitution and the will of the people is an unforgivable crime," one security official told Kampala Post.
Available information indicates that Marco de Swart was Taken off a World Food Programme (WFP) flight as he tried to return from leave in the Netherlands. He was subsequently declared persona non grata.
In diplomacy, a persona non grata is a foreign person whose entering or remaining in a particular country is prohibited by that country’s government.
Marco de Swart has been overseeing the implementation of a far-reaching plan to fund NGOs and Political parties as a pathway to influence the 2021 elections.
The Dutch national was part of a team organizing a series of undercover conversations between EU Heads of Missions and the opposition political parties and individuals.
