People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has raised alarm over alleged sexual violence against women in Uganda following the January 2026 elections, addressing President Yoweri Museveni and Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

In a statement shared on X on Sunday, February 8, 2026, the People’s Liberation Party leader said the issue goes beyond Uganda and touches the region and the world, warning that women’s dignity and safety must be protected and those responsible held to account. Karua frames her message as a direct open letter to Uganda’s top leadership and a regional call for justice.

“This is an open letter to President Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and General Muhoozi, President Museveni’s son and the chief of defence forces in Uganda,” she stated.

She describes the situation as a continental and global concern over targeted violence against women.

“This is an Africa and global cry against the systematic targeted sexual violence and assault on women’s dignity in Uganda. We, the women of the Jumuia and African region, as the advocates of justice globally, write this letter in a state of profound shock and shared grief,” she stated.

She says the abuses go beyond Uganda and amount to an attack on human dignity everywhere.

“The atrocities being currently vested against the women of Uganda are not merely a Ugandan crisis; they are direct assaults on the universal dignity that binds all decent human beings across the globe,” she said.

Karua terms the situation a dark moment and a major setback for human rights after the January elections.

“A dark chapter for humanity. The horrors unfolding in the wake of the January 2026 election represent a catastrophic regression in human rights,” she said.

She accuses security forces of using sexual violence and humiliation to settle political scores.

“We have watched in dismay as security forces under the command of the state have weaponised and sexualised violence, humiliation and terror, more particularly to the women of Uganda, to settle political scores,” she stated.

Karua warns that when women’s privacy and bodies are violated, it shakes the soul of a nation and the region.

“When the privacy of a woman’s bedroom is violated, and her body treated as a battlefield, the soul of a nation and, by extension, of our region is in mortal burial,” Karua stated.

The party leader pointed to the risks women face during political transitions and election periods.