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academic Stella Nyanzi from boarding a flight 

to the Netherlands to attend a conference. 

This followed her criticism of the President 

and his wife, the Education Minister, for the 

government’s failure to fulfil a 2015 

commitment to provide sanitary towels in 

girls’ schools.

On 8 April, police arrested Stella Nyanzi for 

insulting President Museveni on social 

media. She was charged under the Computer 

Misuse Act of 2011 and detained for 33 days 

in Luzira Maximum Security Prison in the 

capital, Kampala, before being released on 

bail. The charges against her were later 

dropped.

On 8 April, Nation TV journalist Gertrude 

Tumusiime Uwitware was abducted, 

blindfolded and interrogated by unknown 

assailants for several hours, after she had 

posted her support for Stella Nyanzi on social 

media. The spokesperson for the Kampala 

Metropolitan Police promised to investigate 

the incident but there was no further 

information on its progress by the end of the 

year.

On 27 September, the Ugandan 

Communications Commission threatened to 

revoke or suspend licences of media outlets 

which broadcast live parliamentary debates 

on a proposed constitutional amendment to 

remove the presidential age limit of 75 which 

was passed by Parliament in December and, 

according to the government, became law in 

the same month. The Commission said that 

such broadcasts promoted a “culture of 

violence”. The opposition viewed the 

amendment as a means to enable President 

Museveni to stand for re-election in 2021. He 

had already been in power for 31 years.

On 10 October, the police summoned 

editors Arinaitwe Rugyendo of the Red 

Pepper newspaper and the online Daily 

Monitor, and Charles Bichachi of the Nation 

Media Group which owns the Daily Monitor, 

about stories they published on the age limit 

debate. Police questioned them after an MP, 

who was leading on moves to remove the age 

limit, filed a complaint claiming that the 

stories tarnished his reputation. They were 

charged in connection with these allegations 

under Section 27A of the Police Act.

On 24 November, after Red Pepper 

published an article alleging that the 

President was involved in a plot to overthrow 

Rwanda’s President, the police searched the 

newspaper’s office including computers and 

mobile phones, and closed it down. At the 

same time, they arrested Arinaitwe Rugyendo 

and other members of staff Richard Kintu, 

James Mujuni, Patrick Mugumya, Richard 

Tusiime, Johnson Musinguzi, Ben Byarabaha 

and Francis Tumusiime. They remained in 

detention at the end of the year.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

On 2 and 20 September, approximately 20 

police officers and security officials raided 

ActionAid Uganda’s offices in Kansanga, an 

area of Kampala, preventing staff from 

leaving the premises for several hours. The 

police warrant stated that ActionAid was 

being investigated for “illicit transfers of funds 

to support unlawful activities”. The police 

removed documents and confiscated the 

organization’s laptops and mobile phones 

belonging to staff members. On 9 October, 

the Bank of Uganda froze ActionAid’s bank 

accounts. On 13 October, the NGO Bureau, 

under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sent a 

letter to 25 development NGOs demanding 

their bank account details.

On 20 September, police raided the Great 

Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies offices 

with a warrant to search computers and 

mobile phones as well as financial and 

banking documents. The raid came after the 

organization’s executive director, Godber 

Tumushabe, spoke against the proposal to lift 

the presidential age limit.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

According to the police, 28 women were 

killed in Entebbe town in Wakiso District. The 

media reported that a man had confessed to 

killing eight of the women on the orders of a 

local businessman. In a public statement on 

3 September the police spokesperson said 

that four categories of murder had been 

identified and that 13 people had been 

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arrested and charged in connection with the 

28 killings. Twelve of the victims had been 

raped or sexually assaulted before they were 

killed; four of them were killed by their 

husbands or partners; one woman was killed 

by her two brothers in what the police 

classified as a revenge killing; the other cases 

were described as “ritual murders”.

The body of one of the victims, Rose 

Nakimuli, was discovered on 24 July in a 

banana plantation in Wakiso District.

RIGHT TO HOUSING AND FORCED 

EVICTIONS

In July, the government tabled a bill to 

amend Article 26(2) of the Constitution. This 

would allow compulsory acquisition by the 

government of private land for infrastructure 

projects without providing prompt, prior and 

fair compensation to the owners, and 

potentially while negotiations on 

compensation were pending.

Under existing law, the government can 

acquire private land only after the payment of 

“fair and adequate” compensation has been 

made. If the owner disputes the 

compensation amount, a High Court can 

block the government from acquiring the 

land until a resolution is reached. If passed, 

the new law would increase the risk of forced 

evictions and undermine the ability of those 

facing eviction to participate in consultations 

over acquisitions. It would also frustrate 

transparent and fair negotiations on 

compensation, and the possibility of appeal. 

Marginalized groups, including people living 

in poverty, and in rural areas, would be 

particularly affected.

RIGHT TO HEALTH

On 10 October, the doctors’ union Uganda 

Medical Association (UMA) declared an 

indefinite strike protesting against low salaries 

and shortages of essential supplies. However, 

they continued to provide services to 

children, pregnant women and emergency 

accident victims.

President Museveni said the strike was 

illegal and ordered the doctors to return to 

work or face disciplinary action. The 

government said it would increase doctors’ 

salaries only after the outcome of a salary 

review conducted by a commission set up by 

the President to review salaries of all civil 

servants.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

As of 10 November, Uganda hosted around 

1,379,768 refugees and asylum-seekers. 

Some 1,037,359 were from South Sudan, 

348,782 having arrived between January and 

September; 61% of them were children, 

mostly unaccompanied or separated from 

their parents. Around 236,572 of the 

refugees were from the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo (DRC); 39,041 were from 

Burundi (see Burundi entry); 35,373 were 

from Somalia; and the rest were from various 

other countries.

Asylum-seekers from South Sudan and the 

DRC were granted prima facie refugee status, 

and those of other nationalities underwent an 

individual refugee status determination 

process conducted by the Refugee Eligibility 

Committee. The government had revoked the 

automatic refugee status for Burundian 

asylum-seekers in June.

Under the 2006 Refugee Act and the 2010 

Refugee Regulations, refugees were allowed 

relative freedom of movement, equal access 

to basic services, such as primary education 

and health care, and the right to work and 

establish a business.

In May, the World Food Programme was 

forced to cut cereal rations by half for over 

800,000 South Sudanese refugees.

Appeals for funding from international 

donors to address the regional refugee crisis 

failed to secure adequate funds. This proved 

to be the most significant challenge to 

Uganda’s refugee response. In June, the 

Uganda Solidarity Summit on Refugees had 

rallied for international support, but as of 

November 2017, the South Sudan Refugee 

Response Plan (a joint government/UNHCR 

initiative) secured only 68% of the funds 

needed; and the Burundi Refugee Response 

Plan secured only 20%.

In October, there was a temporary 50% 

reduction in food assistance to refugees due 

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