pressug.com News 24 7
Related Articles
By Alexander Luyima
In a stark and threatening address ahead of Uganda’s 2026 general elections, President Yoweri Museveni warned citizens that soldiers have been issued 120 bullets each and are prepared to use lethal force against anyone who protests. Speaking at a public rally, Museveni issued an unambiguous warning: “Do not protest. We shall kill you.”
The statement marks a chilling escalation in the government’s posture toward dissent and electoral opposition. Framed by Museveni as a measure to maintain “order,” the remarks have been widely interpreted by political analysts and human rights defenders as a deliberate threat intended to intimidate voters, silence opposition, and normalize state violence during the electoral period.
“This is not a security policy—it is a death threat from the head of state,” said Dr. Livingstone Ssewanyana, Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative. “By publicly declaring that soldiers are armed and ready to kill civilians, the president is openly endorsing violence against his own people and violating both Uganda’s Constitution and its international human rights obligations.”
Political analyst Dr. Juma Kakuba Sultan described the warning as evidence of a regime that has abandoned democratic persuasion. “Museveni is no longer campaigning with ideas or programs. He is ruling through fear. Issuing each soldier 120 bullets sends a clear message: the state now manages elections through force, not the ballot.”
The remarks revive painful memories of Uganda’s 2021 elections, when security forces killed more than 50 unarmed civilians, violently suppressed protests, imposed nationwide internet shutdowns, and placed opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) under prolonged house arrest. Those events were widely condemned by international human rights organizations, yet no senior officials have been held accountable.
Since then, rights groups and opposition parties report a troubling pattern of enforced disappearances, abductions by security operatives, and unexplained killings, particularly targeting opposition supporters, activists, and youth organizers. Victims are often seized by armed men in unmarked vehicles, detained incommunicado, or later found dead under suspicious circumstances. Authorities routinely deny involvement, while investigations remain opaque or nonexistent, deepening public fear and mistrust.
With presidential term limits removed, electoral institutions widely viewed as compromised, and dissent increasingly criminalized under public order and cybercrime laws, many Ugandans see the 2026 election not as a democratic contest but as a tightly controlled exercise in state coercion.
For ordinary citizens—especially young people, activists, and opposition supporters—Museveni’s words translate into a grim reality: protest may be met with bullets. The threat appears designed not only to prevent street demonstrations, but also to crush political organizing, campaigning, and even the confidence to vote against the ruling party.
International human rights organizations and diplomatic observers have condemned the president’s remarks as an alarming slide toward open authoritarian violence. As Uganda moves toward 2026, Museveni’s armed ultimatum looms over the nation, casting the upcoming election not as a choice between political alternatives, but as a test of survival under the threat of state-sanctioned killing.
