The UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima has said the detention of Dr. Kizza Besigye and the arrest of activist Praise Aloikin are signs that Uganda’s Constitution has been hollowed out without being formally abolished.
Speaking at the 36th edition of the Uganda Law Society’s Radical New Bar weekly engagement on Thursday, October 8th, 2026, Byanyima said power had become concentrated around one man, while the liberation army had evolved into the backbone of a personalised state. She added that the boundaries between the ruling party, the family, the state and security services had effectively been erased.
“You do not abolish the constitution. You don’t need to. You hollow it out,” Byanyima said.
She said elections were still held, but meaningful competition had been made impossible, while courts were being used to give repression the appearance of legality.
Byanyima added that Besigye, a bush-war veteran, former NRC member and former minister, had been arrested, beaten, tear-gassed and imprisoned since breaking with President Museveni.
According to Byanyima, Besigye was once again in detention and had become gravely weakened after months of imprisonment and illness. His case, she said, was not simply about the persecution of one leader, but also served as a warning designed to raise the cost of opposing the government.
Byanyima also noted that she would not rest until Aloikin was released. She described Aloikin as part of a small group that meets young people, studies methods of resistance and works on long-term political conscientisation.
“They want to terrorise her to drop that agenda,” she noted.
When asked about Aloikin referring to the Chief of Defence Forces as a cabbage, Byanyima said there was no law requiring people to use respectful language towards those in power.
“This young woman was right to express herself as tough as she wanted,” she said, adding that critics should first focus on criminal acts and abuses of power.
A statement by the Uganda Law Society President, Isaac K. Ssemakadde that Phillip Karugaba, read during the session, argued that an insult alone cannot justify a criminal penalty in Uganda and that public figures must be prepared to face criticism.
Byanyima urged young people to organise beyond hashtags, reconnect democracy with economic justice, and work for change from below rather than waiting for it to come from abroad.
