Kampala, Uganda: The Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court has remanded to Luzira Dr Sarah Bireete, the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance, on charges of unlawful obtaining or disclosure of voters’ data belonging to the Electoral Commission, contrary to Section 35 (1) and (2) of the Data Protection and Privacy Act.
Bireete who was arrested on 31st December 2025, appeared on Friday before Grade One Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko, who formally read the charges to her.
According to the charge sheet, Bireete, a 49-year-old lawyer and resident of Kiwango–Namwezi Village in Bukerere Parish, Goma Subcounty, Mukono District, is accused of unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data.
State prosecution alleges that between January and December 2025, Bireete, together with others still at large, unlawfully accessed or disclosed National Voters’ Information at various locations across Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso districts.
The data is said to be controlled and processed by the Electoral Commission and was allegedly obtained or shared without the Commission’s consent.
Appearing for the state, Chief State Attorney Joan Keko informed court that the matter was coming up for plea.
“The matter is before you for plea,” Keko submitted.
Magistrate Jatiko then asked the accused whether she had understood the charge. “I have understood the offence,” Bireete responded.
When asked whether the charge was true, she replied, “Not true,” leading the magistrate to formally record a plea of not guilty.
Following the plea, the prosecution requested an adjournment, citing ongoing investigations. “The investigations are still ongoing. We seek an adjournment, and we shall inform court of the status of investigations on the next date,” Keko told court.
The defence team, led by Jude Byamukama, did not object to the adjournment but informed court of their intention to apply for bail. “We have no objection to the prayer for adjournment, except that we have instructions to apply for bail,” Byamukama said.
While allowing the bail application to be filed, Magistrate Jatiko declined to rule on it immediately, noting that the prosecution was entitled to time to respond.
“Prosecution deserves a right to reply to the bail application, this being a case that has been brought to court by them. Prosecution is granted time to make a reply to this application. The application will be revisited on January 21, 2026. The accused person will be kept on remand until then,” Jatiko ruled.
If you would like your article/opinion to be published on Uganda’s most authoritative news platform, send your submission on: [email protected]. You can also follow DailyExpress on WhatsApp and on Twitter (X) for realtime updates.
