Ugandan rights defender Sarah Bireete freed
Bireete had spent a month in Ugandan prison on dubious charges
Sarah Bireete, a Ugandan human rights activist and the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG) has been released on bail after spending a month in detention over alleged violations of the Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019.
On December 30, 2025, security operatives raided Sarah Bireete’s home and took her to an unknown destination. It emerged later that Bireete was in police custody, and on January 2, she appeared in a court in Kampala and she was charged with unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data. She was sent on remand at Luzira Prison after her initial bail application was rejected.
The authorities alleged that between January and December 2025, Bireete, together with ‘others still at large’ accessed or shared voters’ personal data without authorization from the Electoral Commission, even though the National Voters’ Register is a public document.
On January 28, the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court granted cash bail of 1 million shillings (approximately $280 USD) after two failed attempts by her lawyers to secure it earlier.
After her release, Bireete issued a defiant statement in which she thanked her lawyers, as well as human rights defenders, international organizations, and civil society groups that spoke out on her behalf.
“This experience has strengthened my resolve to continue standing for truth, justice, accountability, and the protection of fundamental freedoms. Your support will never be forgotten,” she says.
Senior Principal Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko ruled that Bireete was entitled to a court bail and that she presented substantial sureties. Each of the four sureties — her brother Joseph Beyanga, former leader of the opposition Winnie Kiiza, politician and commentator Joseph Ochieno, and former ambassador to the United States Edith Grace Ssempala — was ordered to execute a non-cash bond of 10 million shillings (approximately $2800 USD).
The magistrate also imposed additional conditions, ordering Bireete to deposit her passport with the court and barring her from travelling outside the country without prior court approval. The case has been adjourned to February 27, 2026, when the hearing will commence.
Bireete’s arrest had sparked wide condemnation from both local and international human rights advocates, who described the move as part of a wider pattern of the Uganda’s authorities to increase widespread repression against government critics and political opposition.
Amnesty International described her detention as arbitrary and called for her immediate release in an open letter addressed to President Museveni.
Uganda Law Society (ULS) described the charges against Bireete as fatally defective, unlawful and null and void.
“The particulars of the offence do not disclose any essential ingredient of an offence known to law. National Voter’s Information is a vague description and its disclosure is authorized by electoral laws” ULS stated in a letter to the magistrate in charge of Bireete’s trial.
Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for Africa Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz noted that Bireete’s arrest is a demonstration of the government’s continuing intolerance of dissent.
“The Ugandan authorities should release Bireete, drop all charges against her, and respect the rights to freedom of expression and political participation” she stated.
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) condemned Bireete’s arrest and detention in a statement issued on January 23.
“ANFREL joins like-minded organizations in calling the authorities to drop charges against Dr. Bireete and demand her immediate release. ANFREL further calls on the authorities to respect the work of election observer groups and civil society organizations in promoting and upholding electoral integrity,” read part of the statement.
Bireete’s extensive human rights work has focused on governance issues, advancing constitutionalism, electoral rights and civic space in Uganda.
While appearing on a live television show on UBC TV in February 2023, Bireete defended the rights of LGBTQI+ people and told off Ugandan politicians who were spreading lies to promote the now enacted Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA). She challenged a narrative that homosexuality was brought in Uganda by Arab slave traders, noting that different tribes in Uganda have names/words that they use to refer to those individuals that indulge in acts of homosexuality.
“This is proof that indeed these acts existed before foreign influence/contact,” she said. “Anthropologists have suggested that homosexuality in Africa existed long before even the coming of slave trade and colonialists. We have anthropological evidence backed by names in our local languages ‘ebisiyaga,’ ‘ebitingwa.’ Did these words come with Arabs?” she asked.
A month later, an online tabloid The Explore published a story with a headline “Bireete’s CCG Recruitment Grounds for LGBTQ+ Persons,” which alleged that CCG was a recruitment center for the LGBTQ+ community disguised as a skilling center for youth and a human rights organization.
The story quoted Loyce Akello, apparently a former CCG employee, as saying that, “Between June 2020 to May 2021 CCG received a lot of donor funds to help facilitate the recruitment of LGBTQ+ people here in Uganda. The money was used to lure young boys and girls into the vice and also hire LGBTQ+ influencers on social media.”
Such allegations have become a political strategy directed at people and institutions that speak out against human rights violations perpetrated by state agencies and operatives.
CCG was among the seven non-governmental organizations whose operating permits were suspended by the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organizations on 9 January 2026.
