“Activists in Uganda are increasingly recognizing the importance of exposing these enablers. By shining a light on the individuals who facilitate and execute Museveni’s oppressive tactics, activists aim to dismantle the system of impunity that allows such abuses to continue. This approach not only seeks to hold accountable those directly responsible for human rights violations but also challenges the broader power structures that sustain dictatorial rule.”
Yoweri Museveni’s authoritarian regime in Uganda has continued to systematically dismantle any form of dissent or opposition for over three decades. Museveni employs a range of repressive tactics designed to intimidate, silence and eliminate those who dare to criticize or oppose him.
Abductions carried out by security forces are commonplace, with critics of the regime seized from their homes or the streets, blindfolded and taken to undisclosed locations. In these ungazetted detention centers referred to as “safe houses”, detainees are subjected to torture and denied due process or access to lawyers and families. Some eventually resurface, dumped in remote areas, while many simply disappear without a trace an example is John Bosco Kibalama who was abducted on the 3rd of June 2019 and many others.
The use of unlawful detention is another key weapon for Museveni, who regularly has opposition leaders and activists unlawfully arrested and imprisoned for prolonged periods without trial. By locking up opponents indefinitely, the regime aims to weaken and fracture any organized resistance. Prominent opposition figures and academicians have found themselves thrown in jail on questionable charges.
Beyond detention, Museveni also ruthlessly clamps down on dissent through targeted killings and assassinations. Security operatives have shot opposition leaning prominent Ugandans in broad daylight and run vehicles of activists off the road. Homes of anti-regime lawyers and journalists have been raided by armed assailants resulting in point-blank murders. These violent silencing tactics instill deep fear across Ugandan society.
To try to evade accountability, Museveni relies on a network of enablers spread across the judiciary, security establishment, public sector and beyond. Complicit judges, officials, police chiefs and magistrates all play a role enacting the regime’s oppressive agenda through sham trials, trumped up charges, abductions, illegal detentions and more.
Police and soldiers carry out violent crackdowns on protests. Prison authorities hold detainees incommunicado and deny them due process. Together, these individuals form a machinery of oppression that ruthlessly crushes any challenge to Museveni’s authority.
Despite the grave risks, courageous activists continue exposing human rights abuses, building solidarity networks and using both legal means and civil disobedience to challenge the regime’s grip on power.
Human rights defenders and concerned civilians are documenting stories of torture and enforced disappearance, turning victims into symbols of resistance. Opposition leaders are calling for sanctions and travel bans against specific security officials complicit in abuses but most importantly against the man at the helm of all this, Museveni.
By targeting not just Museveni but also his lieutenants, activists are striking at the foundation of the regime’s repressive edifice. Their brave actions are leading to greater global solidarity, as international civil society groups amplify calls for accountability and governments face pressure to act against Museveni’s key henchmen.
With their focus on dismantling the structures and individuals propping up dictatorship, Ugandan activists offer hope for a future where impunity is replaced by justice. Our struggle is about more than just Museveni’s exit – it aims to build a Uganda where the human rights and civil liberties of all citizens are respected. Although the road ahead remains fraught with risks, these courageous voices show that even the most entrenched authoritarian systems are vulnerable when their victims unite to expose their abusers.
We there for call upon the entire human race globally to pay attention to what is happening in Uganda under Yoweri Museveni who captured power in 1986 through armed struggle and has clung onto power till to date by using the military to crush any opposition.
Museveni has gradually eroded democratic norms, removed term limits and age limits, and stifled any dissent in order to entrench his authoritarian rule. Ugandans have continued to pay a steep price as Museveni’s security apparatus abducts, tortures, detains and assassinates opposition voices with impunity.
The stories of victims like John Bosco Kibalama and many other disappeared Ugandans need to be heard. The voices of activists, opposition leaders, journalists and citizens being crushed by Museveni’s brutal machinery of oppression need to be amplified on the global stage.
Bobi Wine: The People’s President (Full Episode) | Nat Geo Documentary
It is high time the international community re-examined its ties with Museveni’s regime and took concrete action to stand with Ugandans yearning to be free of decades of dictatorship. With rising resistance and striving for change, Uganda needs solidarity from world leaders, civil society and human rights defenders in this difficult struggle.
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