Buganda Premier warns against violent policing during campaigns

Buganda Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Charles Peter Mayiga, has called on security agencies to exercise restraint and uphold professionalism during the ongoing campaign season, warning that violent crowd-control tactics only deepen national wounds.

“Once again, I urge the police and all security agencies to keep law and order in a non-violent and non-partisan manner during this campaign period,” Mayiga said. “It is unrealistic to ban processions of supporters. Political rallies are not prayer meetings where worshippers walk quietly. Rallies are full of excitement, and with Uganda’s public transport system—especially bodabodas—you cannot expect supporters to move silently to campaign venues. Ensure supporters don’t harm others, but let them be.”

He condemned the use of excessive force during political activities, adding: “Bullets, tear gas, dogs—these make the Pearl of Africa bleed.”

Mayiga’s remarks come on the heels of strong criticism from the Uganda Law Society (ULS), which expressed alarm over the Uganda Police Force’s use of dogs to disperse crowds during the National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential campaign event in Kawempe on 24 November 2025. The incident, widely circulated on social media, showed heavy security deployment, tear gas, violent dispersals, and forceful arrests.

In its statement, ULS described the deployment of police dogs at political events as a serious violation of citizens’ constitutional rights to peaceful assembly.

The Society drew parallels between the Kawempe incident and historical abuses in other parts of the world, noting that dogs have long been used as instruments of intimidation by oppressive regimes.

It highlighted the “terrifying police-dog regime” of apartheid South Africa, where law enforcement used dogs to enforce racial segregation and crush Black resistance. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1960s also witnessed horrific scenes of police dogs being unleashed on peaceful demonstrators, including children.

“This history teaches us that deploying dogs at political rallies today mirrors colonial and apartheid-era methods where animals were weaponized to enforce authoritarian control,” ULS stated.

ULS reminded authorities that the Police Canine Unit was legally established for specialized tasks—such as detecting explosives and narcotics, conducting search-and-rescue missions, and supporting crime-scene investigations—not for controlling political crowds. Using dogs against civilians, the Society warned, turns them into tools of fear, a practice incompatible with democratic norms.

The Society also condemned reports of indiscriminate arrests during the Kawempe operation. Several civilians who were merely passing along the road are said to have been rounded up despite not participating in the rally.

“These arbitrary arrests violate constitutional rights to liberty, due process, and human dignity,” ULS said. “Such actions erode public trust in law-enforcement agencies and constitute a serious abuse of the rule of law.”

Both Buganda’s Prime Minister and the Uganda Law Society called on the security forces to respect citizens’ rights, uphold professionalism, and ensure that the 2026 electoral process remains peaceful and credible.