Uganda police have this evening conspired with the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence to abduct activist and human rights advocate Aloikii Praise for her criticism of the CDF’s [Muhoozi Kainerugaba] incompetence and Museveni’s many shortcomings. 

Freedom of expression has incessantly deteriorated on the eve of Museveni’s last political dance, as his government construes criticism as treason. President Museveni, who just turned 82, has become worse than the very predecessors he once criticised and fought against. Uganda has receded to the same injustice that patriotic Museveni once fought with a gun.

Young and vocal Aloikin has been profoundly involved in the fight against corruption, injustice, abductions, police brutality, unconstitutionalism, etc. While her agemates are drenched in beer and trivialities, Aloikin has been focused on liberating Uganda from the 1986 hounds. She has spoken up even when silence was a safer option. She has stood up for the abducted and demanded a bare minimum from the office holders in Kampala. 

On 23 July, 2024, she was one of the organisers of the ‘March to Parliament’, a demonstration that aimed at forcing then Speaker of Parliament Hon Anita Among to resign after turning Parliament into a den of thieves; however, she and her colleagues were arrested by security forces and charged with common nuisance. Then the thief of public funds walked scot-free while the whistleblowers were sent to jail.

Aloikini’s abduction was plotted by the Namungoona Police, who invited her to the police station to resolve a case with her carpet cleaner who claimed she had taken a carpet that was not hers. But while there, they told her the CMI was looking for her on charges of insulting the CDF and that they had to punish her. That is how a drone [numbered UA875AC] picked her up and disappeared her into oblivion.

The Ugandan government continues to annihilate its critics to disseminate fear among citizens; however, individuals like Aloikin continue to speak up against the regime’s militarisation and political mess, even when certain individuals cheer on the power holders. 

Human rights organisations like Agora, World Liberty Congress, etc., have issued statements demanding the immediate release of Aloikin, whose only crime is confronting injustice and speaking up for the very political cancer that gnaws at Uganda.

As a publication, we urge all international human rights bodies to speak and stand up for Aloikin, who has demonstrated her courage as a human rights defender for the rest of her life. Let us make some noise. Let those with more influence pressure the Ugandan military regime to release her. And if there is any case to answer, let them present her before an impartial court of law. 

Also, silencing critics or writers will not assuage the revolutionary winds that now seem stronger in Uganda than before—the Museveni regime has run out of time, and not even God can salvage it from crashing—they cannot stop people who have finally regained their consciousness.