A little over a year to the 2026 presidential, parliamentary and local council elections, security officials are warning the opposition, civil society organizations and the public against causing “chaos.”
Parroting the tired argument of protests being funded by foreign agents and those without a Pan Africanist spirit, President Yoweri Museveni’s security network – sometimes a partisan force pushing his political interests – also warning against Gen Z protests akin to the ones that happened in neighboring Kenya months ago.
On the invitation of Grassroots Defenders Network (Gradenet), an association of Human Rights Defenders comprised of individuals, groups, and organizations working in grassroots communities of Uganda, security officials from the western city of Mbarara dominated plenary during a half-day stakeholder engagement meeting under the theme “Having peaceful and non-violent elections in Uganda: Gathering civil society and security perspectives.”
At some point, police officers who during the engagement filled the meeting hall at Riviera Resort Hotel on August 27 with a gust of air that bordered on intimidation as they reminded other participants of their duty to keep law and order in Uganda.
In the run up to the 2026 general elections, Gradenet says it is undertaking “a civic education programme aimed at preventing and mitigating electoral violence and ensuring peaceful elections.” Barnabas Tugumisirize from Civic Space Movement, a member of Gradenet, detailed the recent history of Uganda’s violent elections beginning in 1980 where Yoweri Museveni of the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) candidate was aggrieved with the conduct and outcome of the presidential election and chose to go to the bush, capturing power a little over five years later.
SECURITY PERPETRATING VIOLENCE?
Tugumisirize also listed some of the perpetrators of violence in Uganda, putting security forces – police, army, vigilante groups like crime preventers and Kiboko Squad – on top. The security officers in the hall murmured. Tugumisirize’s list of perpetrators of violence continued: ruling party NRM politicians and supporters, government officials as well as opposition groups such as those who harassed NRM supporters donning yellow clothes – the colour synonymous with the ruling party.
“They use impunity where they say ‘I am powerful, I can arrest you; I can kill you, I am untouchable,” he said.
“Security forces, you need to be neutral and impartial. When you are partial and you begin favouring one group against another, you create violence.”
Tugumisirize proposed electoral reforms to make the Electoral Commission (EC) independent and not to “receive phone calls from above.” He also called for more voter education, an arrangement for candidates to commit to peace and more technical support from the international community.
GROW HORNS AND WE’LL CLIP THEM
Representing the office of the president at the engagement – at least that is how people from the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) offices claim – was an assistant RDC for Mbarara Grace Namara.
Months ago, Museveni’s office appointed over 300 assistant RDcs and assistant RCCs, most of them ruling party cadres who have been defending the NRM government or mobilizing for it. It was not clear what was considered as qualifications for appointment.
What is clear is that the appointments added another layer to the security apparatus in districts and cities where the RDC or RCC is the head of the security committee in the district or city, respectively. (Read more about assistant RDCs and see the new list of RDCs, RCCs and their deputies as recently appointed by Museveni Here, There and Over There).
“As government, we will not accept any chaos in Uganda. We will do what we will do. We can’t allow Uganda to go where it was. Those that want to grow horns, we won’t hesitate to put them behind bars,” Namara said, beginning off the security apparatus’ warnings and sending the room into a silence so thick that one would cut it.
“Let them [opposition, civil society and the public] participate peacefully. The moment they go off track, we will put them behind bars.”
In 2020, security officials killed over 50 protesters in riots that followed the arrest of opposition candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine. Hundreds were arrested. Some of those arrested over their association with Bobi Wine or for taking part in protests are still missing.
There also cases where the police misuses its powers to arrest someone as a way of preventing a crime. Tugumisirize narrated how police once arrested him in Kabale on suspicion that he wanted to hold a protest yet, he says, he had “not even thought” about organizing any protest.
Namara also regurgitated the NRM government’s talking point of ‘go to court if you are dissatisfied” with election results or if you are sure you have been rigged or your rights have been violated. President Museveni, the NRM national chairman, appoints judges.
THE NEOCOLONIAL CARD – THEN NGOs PROBE?
SP Brian Kinyana, the Regional Crime Intelligence Officer for Rwizi Region, challenged Gradenet to “interest itself in the neo-colonial activities or influence during elections,” getting the international community and foreign literature out of Uganda’s electoral cycle, and advocating for the rights of security officers.
D/SP Alex Paul Wanzala, the Deputy Regional CID Officer for Rwizi Region, said police “cannot allow that stupidity of Kenyans in Uganda. Never. Over our dead bodies,” adding that citizens must be mindful of both their rights and obligations.
“When you are [a NUP supporter], don’t think that your blood is red and for the NRM it is yellow. No, it’s the same blood,” noted Wanzala.
It should be remembered that Ugandan security officers arrested tens of youth calling for the resignation of Speaker Anita Among and others over alleged involvement in corruption. President Museveni came out and blamed the protests on foreign agents – a similar line by Kenyan authorities who were battling with protests by Gen Zs. (See Details Here, There and Over There).
Wanzala then supported Kinyana’s argument on neo-colonialism but called for a probe into the work of NGOs. “We are being suffocated by the white man in the name of an NGO,” Wanzala submitted. “These NGOs should be investigated thoroughly and we get to know where their funds come from, and what is their motive, what is their intention?”
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