KAMPALA, UGANDA – The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has granted bail to prominent Ugandan activist Dr. Sarah Bireete, after she spent nearly a month in jail on charges of unlawfully obtaining voter data.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Sarah Bireete was arrested on December 30, 2024, two weeks before Uganda’s general elections, drawing sharp criticism from domestic and international human rights organizations.
She was charged over allegations related to accessing national voters’ register data, accusations her supporters firmly deny as politically motivated.
Dr. Sarah Bireete was granted bail by the court, presided over by Chief Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko, and will appear for the next hearing, scheduled for February 27, 2025.
The court granted Dr. Bireete bail of 1 million Ugandan shillings with two sureties and ordered her to surrender her passport, barring her from leaving the country without judicial permission.
Speaking to the media upon her release, Sarah Bireete, Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance, expressed profound relief at regaining her freedom.
She stated that Article 23 of the Constitution is the its most frequently abused provision and called for greater adherence to the rule of law.
“I am relieved to be free. I condemn the abuse of constitutional rights as Article 23 is the most abused provision in the Constitution in Uganda. We must return to respecting the rule of law,” Bireete stated.
Groups including Human Rights Watch condemned the arrest as an arbitrary detention, part of a broader pattern of crackdowns on government critics in the lead-up to the polls.
The bail decision was celebrated by supporters of Dr. Bireete, the well-known civic leader and longtime advocate for democratic governance, including former opposition leader Winnie Kiiza.
Dr. Bireete’s detention and release highlight a persistent climate of intimidation against activists and opposition figures, a climate that many argue has tightened further in the post-election period.
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