STATEMENT BY THE NUP DIASPORA TEAM ON THE PASSAGE OF THE “SOVEREIGNTY BILL”
The National Unity Platform (NUP) Diaspora Team strongly condemns the passage of the so-called “Sovereignty Bill” that represents another dangerous step toward authoritarian rule in Uganda.
Despite its patriotic branding, this law is not about protecting Uganda’s sovereignty or national security. It is about protecting regime survival. It is designed to suppress democratic participation, intimidate critics, silence dissent, and criminalize citizens both at home and abroad who demand accountability, justice, and constitutional governance.
Governments confident in their legitimacy do not fear civic engagement, independent voices, or the opinions of their citizens overseas. Yet this law introduces vague offenses such as foreign-linked political influence, unauthorized foreign support, and economic sabotage. These are broad provisions that can easily be weaponized against journalists, civil society organizations, opposition leaders, activists, academics, investors, and ordinary Ugandans.
The overwhelming opposition expressed during parliamentary consultations proved that Ugandans across political, religious, and economic backgrounds recognize this bill for what it truly is, not a defense of Uganda’s sovereignty, but a defense of a regime increasingly disconnected from the aspirations of its people.
Ugandans also recognize the contradiction of a government invoking sovereignty while presiding over massive corruption, soaring public debt, capital flight via regime offshore accounts, medical tourism and regional military interventions that resulted in Uganda being ordered by the International Court of Justice to pay reparations to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This law sends a dangerous signal to entrepreneurs, investors, financial institutions, innovators, development partners, religious institutions, and young Ugandans struggling for economic opportunity. No country can prosper where fear replaces freedom, where criticism is criminalized, and where political survival takes priority over national development.
The NUP Diaspora Team believes in a different Uganda, a Uganda open to business, innovation, entrepreneurship, investment, and global partnership. We believe in constitutionalism, independent institutions, economic freedom, merit-based governance, and equal opportunity for all citizens. Uganda’s future prosperity depends not on suppressing its people, but on empowering them.
Under a future democratic government, we will strongly advocate for the repeal of such authoritarian laws and the dismantling of regulations designed to suppress civil liberties, weaken democratic participation, and obstruct economic transformation.
To all Ugandans who opposed this bill in Parliament including civil society, bankers, cultural institutions, academia, religious institutions, the private sector, and across the diaspora, history will remember that you stood on the right side of justice, democracy, and freedom.
The NUP Diaspora Team wishes to make it clear that we shall not be deterred by the Sovereignty bill. No law, however oppressive, will silence the voices of millions of Ugandans both at home and abroad who continue to stand for justice, democracy, and the liberation of our country.
Uganda shall be free.
Dr. Daniel Kawuma
NUP Diaspora Team Leader
May 5, 2026
ABDUCTION ALERT ⚠️
Comrade, Ssegirinya Baker of Kitaka Cell at Nyendo Nsenene Stage,was yesterday abducted by security operatives in a drone to an unknown destination.
Efforts to trace his whereabouts are currently underway. We strongly condemn this continued violation of citizens’ rights and demand that those responsible immediately release him UNCONDITIONALLY.
#StopAbductionsUG
We've just been informed of the violent abduction of our brother, King Zale, from Kamwokya. Onlookers say, armed men moving in a drone surrounded his vehicle, put him on gunpoint, and ordered him to move out of his car before driving off with him to an unknown destination. The lawlessness continues😡
#FreeUgandaNow
Ssekitoleko Yasin, commonly known as Machete Yasin, has now spent 5 years on remand—yet the regime has failed to present credible evidence against him since the 2021 general elections. This is not justice; it is punishment without trial.
A Ugandan journalist, Mukose Arnold Anthony, is brazenly abducted in broad daylight outside a radio station. Ugandan authorities must urgently reveal his whereabouts and ensure that journalists can work without fear of being arrested or disappearing. https://t.co/xnAFhzbRF7
#TêteÀTête - “I intend to return home,” says exiled #Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine, reappearing in #Washington after weeks in hiding.
He warns he remains under threat and calls for sanctions against President Museveni.
Full show with @mperelman ➡️ https://t.co/itwFqyfVwK
Get to know RDI’s 2026 Hero of Democracy @HEBobiWine—Uganda’s beloved superstar turned democratic opposition leader and Presidential hopeful. The Ugandan Regime tried to eliminate him, but he is now safely in America.
RDI’s 2026 Heroes of Democracy Gala will honor his continued leadership in the fight for democracy—Join us on April 17 in NYC: https://t.co/shehcdKlJD
Fellow honorees include Ambassador John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton), Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland), and Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly).
During the Iftar dinner at our @NUP_Ug party headquarters yesterday, I saluted our muslim brothers & sisters for fasting.
I also extended my heartfelt gratitude to the Sheikhs for their continued prayers for our President @HEBobiwine & for all our comrades who remain in prison.
It is sad testament to how Uganda’s autocratic president Yoweri Museveni has undermined the country’s democracy that first he stole an unfair election and now he forces his leading opponent Bobi Wine to flee the country for his safety.
Uganda’s main opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi has left the country after two months in hiding following the disputed presidential and parliamentary polls held on Jan. 15 https://t.co/Ci3qNyceo5
#Uganda
"Fellow Ugandans and friends of Uganda all over the world, by the time you see this video I will have left the country for some critical engagements outside Uganda. And at the right time I will come back and continue with the cause." -@HEBobiwine
https://t.co/gz3fsscQLu