Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire decries youths still behind bars after polls
By Kenneth Mwenda, February 17, 2026Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire has spoken out about the continued detention of thousands of young people arrested around the January 15, 2026, general elections. She says many remain in prison on weak charges that the state rarely proves in court.
“Thousands of young people have spent a month in prisons having been arrested during the Jan 15th elections, over the ridiculous cases of ‘common nuisance’, ‘nuisance on the roads’ that the state never proves. I was a victim of those nonsensical charges and after two months they were dismissed,” Atuhaire wrote on X, on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
She questioned why courts continue to remand suspects on such charges.
“Why the @JudiciaryUG continues to remand these people and doesn’t at least even grant them bail on these laughable charges is yet another indictment on the institution expected to be the temple of justice and custodian of the law!” she added.
The January 15 elections saw President Yoweri Museveni declared winner for a seventh term. Opposition leaders rejected the results. National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi, widely known as Bobi Wine, disputed the outcome and alleged irregularities.
Mass arrests, bail concerns
Human Rights Watch reported mass arrests in the period around the vote. Authorities detained more than 2,000 people and confirmed at least 30 deaths in the aftermath. Security forces dispersed protests that broke out after the results were announced.
Atuhaire, who is both a journalist and a lawyer, argues that these charges rarely hold up in court. She says she experienced the same process herself. Authorities charged her with similar offences and held her for two months before the case collapsed.
She directs much of her criticism at the Judiciary of Uganda. She argues that magistrates and judges keep suspects in custody instead of granting bail or dismissing weak cases at an early stage.