The Commissioner at the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Shifrah Lukwago has advised security forces to act with respect to human dignity and professionalism in the ongoing campaigns, heading into the January 2026 general elections.
Ms Lukwago also noted that the authority vested by men and women in uniform comes with heavy responsibility to protect human rights rather than violating them.
‘Every action of security personnel must be helpful, necessary, proportionate and respectful of human dignity. No matter how provocative citizens can be, kindly continue to stand by your values. Citizens are so provocative and we are all watching but they are targeting your reaction so that it can be tainted as bad locally and internationally. Don’t fall into the citizen’s trap,’ Ms Lukwago said.
Lukwago made these remarks at Nile Resort Hotel in Jinja on December 4 2025 while opening the Eastern regional stakeholder’s dialogue meeting between security forces and political actors.
‘The use of force must always remain the very last resort. Dialogue and explanation must be the first response. This very meeting is proof that structured conversations prevent confrontation. Peaceful elections are a collective responsibility not inspired by a single institution and human rights must be protected and promoted in all regions,’ Ms Lukwago added.
In the same meeting, a police community liaison officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said some actions of key stakeholders such as the electoral commission, especially counting of votes very late in the night, breaks transparency amongst the public.
‘How do you count votes at 2am yet there are specified times when vote counting must take place in a clear and transparent manner in known places? A candidate who will feel cheated and their supporters will have no choice but to resort to violence and they should be listened to because the responsible authority wasn’t transparent,’ the officer said.
While the role of security agencies in creating a peaceful and secure environment is appreciated, different studies have shown that oftentimes, the same agencies become too high-handed and a key perpetrator is the security forces and electoral commission. The police, by constitution, is responsible for keeping law and order, but is also mandated, where it is necessary, to call in other security agencies to provide reinforcement. However, complaints of heavy presence of the army, though, remain rampant, and therefore a cause of concern.
‘We make the call to security forces to remember their sacred duty, to protect all citizens equally, regardless of political affiliation. When the police or the army and the intelligence act with impartiality, they earn the trust of the people. When they act as agents of fear, they destroy it. Professionalism and neutrality by national organs are the cornerstones of national-stability,’ says David Mugarra, the Programs Manager at the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD).
Organised under the theme safeguarding democracy for peaceful elections, the dialogues, all of which have been held in every region, are aimed at dialoguing on the key trends and how to mitigate electoral violence in the Eastern Region to avoid a recurrence of other acts of violence as Uganda gets into the climax of election.
It should also be noted that of the 11 elections Uganda has so far had, seven have had incidents of electoral violence.