Opposition female legislators have petitioned the speaker of parliament over the continued violation of the rights of women and the threat to their lives which also violates the Constitution.
The legislators protest the actions of security officers (UPDF and the Police) in blocking Women’s Day Celebrations organized in their districts which they say constitute to an affront to the right to associate and assemble as enshrined in Article 29 of the Constitution.
The recent incident was an even on 21st April 2023 organized by Hon Suzan Mugabi, Woman MP Buvuma District at Kyanja-Kutale in Bweema Sub County in Buvuma District when security officers from the UPDF and Police stormed the venue, confronted Hon Suzan Mugabi together with other invitees, beat them up teargassed whoever was around and blocked the Women’s Day Celebrations. As a result of the security officers’ actions, Suzan Nakaziba sustained injuries to the extent that she was and is still admitted to the hospital.
Dressed in black, the MPs say actions of security officers (UPDF and the Police) in blocking Women’s Day Celebrations are illegal, irrational and ultra vires and constitute an affront to the right to associate and assemble enshrined in Article 29 of the Constitution.
The legislators enumerated other incidents where Police and RDCs in the different Districts and Cities deployed the same tactics to block Women’s Day Celebrations organised by Hon. Members of Parliament; Hon Kaaya Christine Nakimwero (Kiboga District Woman) on 31st March 2023; Hon Kabugho Florence, (Kasese District) on 03rd April 2023; Hon Acom Joan Alobo (Soroti City) on 14th April 2023; and, Hon Nyakato Asinansi (Hoima City) on 08th March 2023.
While speaking to the press today, Mityana Woman MP Joyce Bagala wondered how women leaders who are mandated to spearhead development activities in respective constituencies can be blocked from executing their roles and more so by RDCs whose constitutional role is totally different.
“Despite being opposition MPs, we members of parliament who were elected to serve for five years and we must fulfill he mandate for which we were elected” Bagala said vowing that the Women MPs are ready to defend their rights whatsoever.
The petitioners contend that the actions and conduct of the security agencies and officers under the command of the RDCs are systematically made to block the Opposition Members of Parliament from interfacing with their constituents, in contravention of the right to associate and assemble enshrined in Article 29 of the Constitution, which must stop.
They also want parliament compel the Minister of Presidency to appear in the Presidential Affairs Committee with her RDCs in the affected Districts so that they can personally account for their actions. Other resolutions include; all officers and RDCs/RCCs involved in the assault of all the affected MPs be prosecuted personally before Courts of law, and Security agencies be restrained, stopped and prevented from blocking Women’s Day Celebrations or any other meeting and assembly permitted by law.
The female opposition MPs meet with the speaker of Parliament
THE ROLE OF LAWYERS IN DEFENDING SOCIAL JUSTICE IN A DICTATORSHIP
H.E Bobiwine at ULS
This morning, Bobi Wine, the President of the National Unity Platform and leading voice of Uganda’s pro-democracy movement, delivered a powerful and deeply personal keynote address to the members of the Uganda Law Society and the Ugandan public. His message was as bold as it was urgent: the legal profession must rise to its moral responsibility of promoting social justice by defending human rights and electoral integrity no matter the cost.
With his signature mix of clarity and courage, Bobi Wine opened by reflecting on his own journey and the dream that had been with him since childhood — the dream of becoming a lawyer. A dream that, like many of Uganda’s youth, was delayed by poverty, dictatorship, and lost opportunity, and only came to fruition last year, in his 40s, after years of struggle and sacrifice.
This was not just a personal anecdote — it was a political indictment. Bobi Wine emphasized that the State has a non-negotiable responsibility to subsidize life for its citizens — to provide education, health care, opportunity, and dignity — because only then can every Ugandan have a fair shot at a meaningful life. In his words, “A government that abandons its people to fend for themselves, while looting national resources, is not just negligent. It is illegitimate.”
He reminded the audience that his own delayed education was not due to laziness or lack of ambition, but due to the structural violence of a corrupt and unequal system — one that millions of Ugandan children are still trapped in. “My story is the story of so many,” he said. “We are not where we are because we lacked potential, but because the system was designed to hold us back.”
CALLING OUT JUDICIAL COWARDICE MASQUERADING AS LEGAL DOCTRINE
Bobi Wine then turned his fire toward a subject rarely discussed so openly in Uganda — the complicity of the Judiciary in the oppression of Ugandan citizens. With unflinching honesty, he condemned what he called “judicial cowardice dressed up as legal doctrine.”
He boldly called out the Judiciary’s long-standing tendency to hide behind conservative legal principles to justify injustice and protect military dictatorship. “Since independence,” he said, “judicial officers have repeatedly used ‘doctrine’ as a shield — not to defend justice, but to protect power.”
He especially criticized two specific doctrines that have been used to dismiss legitimate electoral challenges: the ‘Political Question Doctrine’ and the ‘Substantiality Test.’ These, Bobi Wine argued, have become legal tools of repression — used by the Supreme Court to throw out compelling evidence of vote rigging, electoral violence, and fraud in Museveni’s elections.
In one of the most striking moments of his speech, Bobi Wine stated:
“Even when judges know that any single act of rigging—however small—was done to alter the final result… even when they know that no one rigs an election just for the sake of it, but to win it… even when they know that State-led electoral malpractice destroys the legitimacy of the entire election… they still go ahead to say it was not ‘substantial.’”
And why? Because, in Bobi Wine’s words, “They would rather feel safe than uphold their judicial oath.” These words struck deep, drawing the attention not only of those in the room but across Uganda.
LAWYERS MUST CHOOSE: SILENCE OR SOLIDARITY
Bobi Wine reminded lawyers that the law is not neutral. It either protects the people or it protects tyranny. He called on all legal professionals to choose courage over complicity.
“Lawyers, by their training and knowledge alone, must play a central role in achieving a just society. Their inaction in times of oppression makes them complicit. Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality—it is betrayal.”
He invoked the name of Chief Justice Benedicto Kiwanuka, Uganda’s first African Chief Justice, who was abducted and murdered by Idi Amin’s regime. “Ben Kiwanuka refused to bow to tyranny, and he paid with his life. Today, our lawyers fear even to speak. What are we becoming?”
Bobi Wine emphasized that no one is ever safe in a lawless nation. The judges, the lawyers, the politicians — all are vulnerable when a regime begins to devour its own people. “If law cannot protect the least among us,” he said, “then it will eventually fail to protect those who think they are safe.”
THE STRUGGLE FOR A NEW UGANDA
But Bobi Wine’s message was not only one of condemnation — it was also a message of hope, resistance, and responsibility. He called on Ugandans — especially the legal fraternity — to reclaim the law as a tool of liberation, not repression.
He called on lawyers to:
Challenge bad laws and unconstitutional practices Stand up for victims of torture and political persecution Expose the abuse of State institutions by those in power Refuse to normalize impunity and dictatorship
He made it clear that Uganda is at a crossroads, and the legal profession must choose which side of history it wants to be on. “Will you be remembered as defenders of justice — or as enablers of oppression?”
He also reminded everyone that change will not come from the courts alone — but from the collective struggle of all oppressed people. That is why he called for a #ProtestVoteUg2026 — a defiant stand against dictatorship using the very weapon Museveni fears the most: the voice of the people.
“We are building a new Uganda — one built on justice, truth, and accountability. And in that Uganda, the law will serve the people, not those who brutalize them.”
A FINAL WORD
In closing, Bobi Wine warned of the cost of silence, but also affirmed the power of truth. He said the time for fear is over. The time for complicity is over. The time to stand with the people is now.
“Uganda is bleeding. Our children are growing up in fear. Our youth are being abducted, tortured, and murdered for demanding justice. The judiciary cannot keep playing dumb. The lawyers cannot keep hiding behind gowns. The time for polite silence is over.”
If the legal profession will not lead the charge for justice, who will? If the men and women trained to interpret and defend the law cower in silence, then what hope is left for the ordinary citizen?
The future of Uganda depends on a brave and principled legal fraternity. Not tomorrow. Not in some distant time. But now.
Accompanied by a smiling image of Uganda’s 80-year-old ruler, the caption framed this moment as just another routine political development. But to millions of Ugandans especially the youth, this was not news. It was a slap in the face. It was a continuation of a 40-year nightmare disguised as democracy.
I commented under that post calmly but firmly exposing Museveni’s long record of repression, corruption, and illegitimacy. Within hours, my comment had been deleted. By the next morning, BBC News had blocked my account from interacting with their page. I had to access their page using a different account with my comment deleted.
No warning. No explanation. No appeal.
A British publicly-funded media house silenced a Ugandan citizen for exposing decades of abuse, in the comments section of their own post. Whom do they serve, what are they protecting??
What Did I Say That Deserved to Be Erased?
Here’s the truth that BBC did not want to remain under their post,
For nearly four decades, Yoweri Museveni has not ruled Uganda through democratic consent but through violence, constitutional manipulation, and military force. Since 1986, he has held onto power through rigged elections, brutal crackdowns, and legislative coups. He was not elected by the people in 1986, nor in 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, or 2021.
In 2005, he bribed MPs to remove term limits a safeguard meant to prevent exactly this kind of life presidency. Then in 2017, when age threatened to disqualify him, he sent soldiers into Parliament to beat up lawmakers and remove the presidential age limit by force. These weren’t democratic reforms. They were constitutional rapes carried out at gunpoint.
Museveni didn’t come to power through the ballot. He came with bullets preaching against long-serving leaders only to become Africa’s longest-serving dictator.
Uganda Under Siege By Its Own Government
Uganda is not a democracy. It is a state under internal occupation. The police have become hunters. The army, a personal militia. Parliament, a circus of cowardice. Activists vanish into “torture houses.” Protesters are gunned down in the streets. In November 2020, more than 100 Ugandans were killed in cold blood simply for demanding the release of opposition leader Bobi Wine.
Today, youth unemployment is over 70%, hospitals are crumbling, and education is a luxury. Meanwhile, billions are siphoned through fake contracts, inflated military budgets, and ghost projects. Uganda’s national debt now exceeds 52% of GDP but the money doesn’t build; it maintains dictatorship.
Then the West’s Dirty Hands in Uganda’s Oppression
Museveni survives not on popular support, but on Western protection. Britain, the EU, and the United States continue to arm, finance, and legitimize his regime. To them, Museveni is a “stabilizer” in the Great Lakes region a useful gatekeeper in exchange for oil, gold, and mineral access. Their commitment to democracy ends at their borders.
The same BBC that blocked me would never silence a Ukrainian, Palestinian, or Russian dissident for criticizing a regime. But they erased my voice a Black African fighting for justice in my own country. That is not journalism. That is complicity.
Why Was I Silenced for Speaking the Truth?
If my words were wrong, they could have been debated.
If my tone was aggressive, it could have been challenged.
But I was blocked and erased. That tells you everything.
Museveni fears the youth. He fears the truth. But now, so do his international enablers because the narrative is slipping.
Uganda’s young people are awake, informed, and angry. We are not afraid. Museveni is not a president he is a parasite, a relic clinging to power, feeding off a nation he has robbed for 40 years. He has overstayed, over-bled, and overruled Uganda. And we are ready to take it back.
To the BBC and the West You Can’t Silence Us All
If BBC wants to side with power instead of people, history will judge them. If they believe blocking one activist will stop the truth, they are mistaken. My voice echoes millions of others who are rising to say:
NUP LAUNCHES FUNDRAISING DRIVE FOR 2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS
Today at our headquarters in Makerere-Kavule, we have launched a global fundraising drive to raise money and other material resources necessary to take us through the forthcoming general elections. We have constituted a Committee led by Hon. Balimwezo Ronald Nsubuga to oversee this exercise. Other members of the Committee include Hon. Kaaya Christine Nakimwero and Ms. Fatuma Kassim.
Comrades who are supporting this cause have been categorized and they will receive certificates from one star to five star depending on the amount that they commit to this cause for instance those who qualify to attain certificates are those who donate UGX 100,000 and above.
We are grateful to party leaders, members, aspiring leaders, and members of the general public who turned up in droves today and contributed generously to the cause.
We humbly appeal to whoever wishes to contribute to either send your contribution through bank or mobile money (see poster below) or bring the contribution physically to our headquarters.
Every contribution is acknowledged with an official receipt, although contributions above UGX 100,000/= additionally get a Certificate of Appreciation. Contributions in cash or in kind (such as branding material, fuel, non-monetary services, etc) are all welcome.
Exclusive1 year ago