The Uganda Police Force has confirmed the arrest of Sarah Bireete, the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG), saying she is in police custody and will be arraigned before court in due course.
In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Kawala Rachael said police had taken Bireete into custody but did not disclose the specific charges she faces.
Bireete was arrested on the afternoon of December 30, 2025, after security personnel surrounded her residence. Earlier in the day, she posted a message on her verified X account (@SarahBireete) stating: "My house is under siege by Police and Army."
Close associates later confirmed that she was taken from her home and detained. Attempts to reach Bireete directly were unsuccessful, with her known phone numbers remaining unreachable following the operation.
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By late afternoon, the police had not publicly detailed the reasons for the arrest.
However, multiple sources familiar with the investigations said authorities were considering charges related to hate speech, although this had not been formally confirmed by police by press time.
Last week, Bireete criticised the decision to restrict importation of StarLink internet infrastructure into the country without express authorization of the Chief of Defence Forces.
She proceeded to urge citizens to bypass the restrictions using cheat codes she did not reveal in her social media post.
The post on X gave the inference that security was seeking to block Internet during the January 15, 2026 national elections and that with Starlink users can bypass the restrictions.
Bireete is a prominent lawyer, human rights defender and election observer.
She is a founding partner and Executive Director of CCG, a Kampala-based constitutional and governance watchdog involved in civic education, electoral integrity monitoring and accountability advocacy.
She also serves as Chairperson of the East and Horn of Africa Election Observers Network (EHORN) and the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM).
She has in the past been a vocal critic of the involvement of security forces in political processes, particularly the use of military deployments during election periods.
She is currently engaged in civil society monitoring activities linked to the 2026 electoral process.
The arrest comes amid heightened debate over civil liberties, the role of security agencies in domestic political affairs, and preparations for the upcoming elections.
