AURORA, COLORADO — The United States is preparing to deport 78-year-old Edward Nalwamba to Uganda. Nalwamba fears imprisonment or death if he returns, according to his attorney Joy Athanasiou.

Nalwamba arrived in the U.S. from Uganda in 2002 on a tourist visa for a religious conference. He lived and worked in Colorado under an order of supervision, which his lawyers say was revoked in September 2025. Nalwamba was arrested on September 18, 2025, and has been detained since that time at a facility in Aurora, Colorado, run by GEO Group.

Athanasiou stated that Nalwamba "feared and has feared all the way up until the present time that if he returns to Uganda, he will be imprisoned or tortured or killed, and the Ugandan authorities have come looking for him several times over the years." Records from 2010 indicate Nalwamba claimed armed security forces in Uganda interrogated him in 2001 about his connection to the political opposition. He also claims he refused to instruct members of his church to vote for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.

According to Athanasiou, Nalwamba's possessions, including paperwork, were confiscated when he entered detention. She also noted that she does not have access to some of his prior case records because she did not represent him in those cases, and a previous attorney received only a fraction of the full file after requesting it.

Reverend Philip Eberhart, a pastor at Resurrection Anglican Fellowship in Greenwood Village, Colorado, stated that Nalwamba worked for the church for 15 years before his retirement. Eberhart described Nalwamba's physical decline since his detention. "When he was picked up, he was very active. I mean, he was doing stuff that a 50-year-old would be doing. Now he's in a wheelchair," Eberhart said.

Nalwamba went to the GEO Group infirmary in December 2024 after several weeks of illness, his attorney stated. Blood work copies show abnormalities suggestive of malnourishment and a pneumonia diagnosis. Athanasiou claims the detention center staff did not inform Nalwamba of his pneumonia diagnosis. "He has an active virus, he's had the chills, he's been super weak, he has a really disturbing cough that has gone into his chest, and he talks about rib pain," Athanasiou said. Nalwamba submitted a second request for a clinic visit on the Friday prior to the report but had not been seen, according to his attorney.

Eberhart added that Nalwamba has no criminal record. "He's not a criminal in any way, shape or form, not even a hint of criminality in it, no record, no nothing ... [in Uganda] he'll be picked up by soldiers and we probably won't hear from him again," he said.

Why It Matters

Edward Nalwamba's impending deportation involves the return of an elderly individual to a country experiencing an Ebola outbreak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a travel health notice for Uganda earlier this month, advising enhanced precautions. The deportation also occurs with concerns regarding Nalwamba's health in detention and the potential for political persecution in Uganda, where he claims to have been interrogated previously.