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Uganda’s Pre-Election Crackdown Intensifies Before Jan. 15 Vote

Museveni urges tear gas over bullets, rights groups detail violent dispersals, mass arrests.

Uganda's leading opposition presidential candidate, Bobi Wine, attends a church service at the Rubaga Cathedral in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Uganda's leading opposition presidential candidate, Bobi Wine, poses for a photo at the National Unity Platform party office in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Uganda's leading opposition presidential candidate, Bobi Wine, speaks in an interview with The Associated Press at the National Unity Platform party office in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
FILE - A man holds a rock as riot police fire tear gas at a crowd of angry voters outside a polling station where voting material for the presidential election never arrived, at a polling station in Ggaba, on the outskirts of Kampala, in Uganda Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Overview

  • Amnesty International says security forces used tear gas, pepper spray, beatings and torture at opposition events, calling it a “brutal campaign of repression.”
  • Bobi Wine reports the military breaking up his rallies and says at least three supporters have been killed during campaign incidents.
  • The NUP cites roughly 400 supporters detained, analysts estimate closer to 200, and the United Nations has raised concerns about an escalating crackdown.
  • Authorities arrested rights lawyer Sarah Bireete over alleged misuse of voters’ data and a magistrate remanded her to jail until Jan. 21, deepening fears over shrinking civic space.
  • Army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba has signaled a desire to succeed his father and previously threatened force against Wine in widely condemned tweets.