The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has granted a one-million-shilling cash bail to Dr Sarah Bireete, the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance, who has been on remand for three weeks over alleged violations of the Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019.
Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko ruled this morning that the charges facing Bireete are bailable by the court and that she presented substantial sureties. Each of the four sureties was ordered to execute a non-cash bond of 10 million Shillings.
Bireete’s sureties include her brother Joseph Beyanga, former Leader of Opposition Winnie Kiiza, Joseph Ochieno, who describes himself as the president of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), and former Ugandan Ambassador to the United States Edith Grace Ssempala.
The Magistrate, however, imposed additional conditions, ordering Bireete to deposit her passport with the court and barring her from travelling outside the country without prior court approval. The case has been adjourned to February 27, 2026, when the hearing of the matter will commence. Bireete was arrested on January 2, 2026, and remanded to Luzira Prison.
She is accused of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing voters’ information without the consent of the Electoral Commission. The prosecution alleges that between January and December 2025, she shared sensitive electoral data in districts including Kampala, Mukono, and Wakiso, contrary to the Data Protection and Privacy Act. She has denied all the charges.
During her appearance in court last week, Bireete, through her lawyers led by Jude Byamukama and Uganda Law Society Vice President Anthony Asiimwe, applied for bail. The defence argued that she is suffering from hypertension and submitted medical documents from Platinum Hospital in support of the claim.
However, Chief State Attorney Joan Keko opposed the application, contending that the proposed sureties were not credible and lacked sufficient proof of financial capacity to meet bail requirements should Bireete abscond. She emphasised that the economic standing of sureties is a critical consideration in bail applications.
The prosecution also challenged the medical evidence presented by the defence. While acknowledging the Platinum Hospital report dated January 2, 2026, which confirmed Bireete’s hypertension, Keko argued that medical grounds for bail require proof that Uganda Prisons cannot provide adequate treatment, an obligation she said the defence had failed to meet.
Keko further argued that Bireete’s status as a prominent civil society leader could enable her to interfere with witnesses or tamper with evidence, despite the defence’s position that the case is based solely on documentary evidence.
She urged the court to reject the bail application on the grounds of insufficient sureties and lack of compelling medical justification. In her ruling, Magistrate Nankya exercised her discretion and granted Bireete bail, citing the bailable nature of the offences and the availability of substantial sureties.
Bireete, a vocal critic of President-elect Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, was arrested a week before the general elections in which Museveni secured a seventh term in office, extending his rule beyond 40 years. In the days leading up to the polls, the government suspended the operations of several non-governmental organisations, including hers.
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