Uganda: Prosecuted after a video about Museveni's son, Praise Opoloje refuses to be silenced

Praise Aloikin Opoloje was arrested on September 26, 2026, in Uganda, brought before the Buganda Road Magistrates Court two days later, and released on bail on October 14, 2026, without the charges being dropped. This is the central theme of an investigation published on November 4, 2026, from Kampala by Al Jazeera regarding the crackdown on critical voices online.

The official reason cited against her is not political on paper: the allegedly illegal use of a SIM card registered in her mother's name, under Article 29 of the 2024 Ugandan Regulation of Interception of Communications. She denies the allegations. According to her account reported by Al Jazeera, the case began after a video in which she stated she did not fear General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the army chief and son of President Yoweri Museveni. Detained at Luzira Women's Prison, she is currently unable to leave the country without court permission.

Accounts of disappearances that the network could not verify

The investigation gathers several consistent testimonies of abductions by armed men traveling in Toyota HiAce minibuses, which locals nickname "drones." Andrew Tabandama Natumanya, a journalist and human rights activist, claims he was taken on June 17, 2026, and held for five days after sharing a security operation on X targeting assets linked to former Speaker of Parliament Anita Among. He says he has changed his methods but wants to "continue to state facts." Al Jazeera notes that his account, like that of Praise Opoloje, could not be independently verified.

Emmanuel Baliza, 59, is searching for his 17-year-old son, William, who he says has been missing since February 2026 after uniformed, hooded men came to take him from their home. The father tells Al Jazeera he heard the teenager might be held in a military facility near Entebbe, and that officials have denied holding him. "I don't know where my son is," he says.

Twelve cases for a single lawyer

Steven Atukwatse, a lawyer with the human rights organization Agora Research Center, indicates that he has handled twelve cases of internet users prosecuted since November 2025, the vast majority being TikTok and X users, often under the Computer Misuse Act. According to him, most of these individuals were arrested for criticizing the president or his son. Al Jazeera points out, however, that the true scale of the phenomenon remains undetermined due to a lack of official figures.

Questioned by the network, army spokesperson Colonel Chris Magezi rejects the idea of illegal disappearances and asserts that the institution acts "in accordance with the law." He adds that individuals suspected of offenses are brought before the courts and points to the existence of defamation laws: according to him, anyone who makes accusations without being able to substantiate them risks arrest.

In Uganda, as elsewhere on the continent, the battle is now being fought over a digital space that has become the last available public square. The cases cited by Al Jazeera all follow the same judicial pattern: technical charges, drawn-out proceedings, and cases that are rarely closed.