Kampala, Uganda: Police have confirmed that radical lawyer and human rights activist Sarah Bireete is in custody following her arrest, as investigations continue into what authorities have described as undisclosed charges.
Bireete, who is also the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG), was arrested Tuesday evening, according to SP Rachael Kawala, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson.
“The Uganda police force would like to confirm the arrest of Sarah Bireete, director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance. She is in police custody,” Ms Kawala said in a statement posted on her official X account.
“The suspect will be arraigned before court in due course,” she added.
Pressed by this publication to reveal the cause of her arrest, Police Spokesperson, ACP Rusoke Kituuma, declined to disclose the specific circumstances surrounding Bireete’s arrest or the offences under investigation, stating that inquiries are still ongoing.
“Investigations are ongoing, and we are yet to finalise the details,” he said, adding that the police file will be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for perusal and legal guidance before any formal charges are preferred.
Dr Bireete has, in recent months, she has been particularly vocal about what she describes as the increasing militarisation of civic space ahead of Uganda’s 2026 general elections.
The outspoken critic of President Museveni’s government also came into the limelight recently with her widely publicized defence of the use of the national flag in political campaigns, an issue that has drawn sharp debate and linked her, in public discourse, to opposition activism, particularly the National Unity Platform led by Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine.
Her arrest has since sparked concern among human rights defenders, lawyers and governance experts, many of whom have questioned the timing of the detention as election preparations intensify.
Reacting online, Isaac Ssemakadde, the exiled president of Uganda Law Society (ULS), suggested the arrest could be aimed at intimidating civil society actors involved in election observation.
“The unexplained home invasion, arrest and detention of @SarahBireete, ED @ccgea1 & pres @eacsof, has the hallmarks of a counter-intelligence project aimed at interfering with the civil society’s election observation mission she heads,” Ssemakadde wrote.
As reactions continue to mount online and within civil society circles, police insist that the process will follow the law, while activists say they are closely monitoring developments and awaiting clarity on the charges.
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