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Uganda goes to the polls on 15 January 2026. Ugandans will elect the president, members of parliament for a five‑year term. As the date of the elections draws near, various stakeholders have argued that these polls are not a celebration of democracy, but rather a repetition of authoritarian consolidation. Despite the presence of 27 political parties and over 21 million registered voters, human rights groups have reported that the electoral environment is marred by violence, repression, and systematic human rights violations. For instance, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented widespread intimidation, arbitrary arrests, and torture of opposition supporters, underscoring that these elections mean little for ordinary citizens. What should be a moment of democratic renewal has instead become another occasion for authoritarian entrenchment, echoing the failures seen in Tanzania’s recent elections, yet another troubling example within the East African Community (EAC).
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By Belinda Matore, an LLD candidate and project officer at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
It is indisputable that the modern influencer stands as a central figure in contemporary digital life. These individuals, whether operating on TikTok, YouTube or Instagram, possess the ability to translate complex ideas into accessible stories, set cultural rhythms and command the attention of audiences who often hold a deep scepticism toward traditional institutions. We routinely measure their success by the breadth of their reach, their follower counts, their engagement rates, and their capacity to drive consumer behaviour. Yet by focusing solely on the extent of their influence, we overlook a far more critical question: who influences the influencer? The answer is not merely academic; it is profoundly relevant to the health of public discourse. The systemic forces shaping a creator’s message are, by extension, the forces shaping what millions of people see, share, believe and often fight about online. If we seek to educate the public about online harms and cultivate a more peaceful digital environment, we must first understand and, at times, strategically disrupt these powerful underlying forces.
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By Sally Ncube and Nkatha Murungi
The challenge is to initiate measures to strengthen the protection, participation and visibility of women and girls within the realm of climate policy.
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Uganda goes to the polls on 15 December 2025 and the presidential campaigns by the 8 candidates are in high gear. When the campaigns kicked off at the end of September 2025, they were dubbed peaceful and everyone thought, for the first time, that the campaigns will be a peaceful event, free from state orchestrated violence. Lo and behold, we celebrated too early, the campaigns are now bloody with 45 days left to the polling day. This is not the first time the state apparatus has meted violence on Ugandan voters. In November 2020, 54 Ugandans were killed in just two days while exercising their right to protest following the arrest of the opposition candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi. Police and other security agencies fired live ammunitions which led to their death and injured many others. Today, Uganda’s political landscape continues to be stained by the reckless and violent suppression of opposition campaigns especially the brutal dispersal of rallies organized by NUP’s presidential Candidate Robert Kyagulanyi and other opposition candidates in a few instances. What should be moments of democratic participation, public debate, and political choice have instead become scenes of horror with civilians running from gunfire, bodies lying in blood in streets, families mourning loved ones shot down for daring to attend a campaign, imagine, a mere campaign rally.
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Introduction
More than just a date, 25 November serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to end all forms of violence against women (VAW), commemorated globally as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It is also a call for decisive action to ensure justice for women who have been killed and to hold perpetrators accountable. The United Nations (UN) reports that nearly one in three women worldwide has been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence at least once in their life. Even more worrying is that despite ongoing efforts by civil society organisations and states, VAW is increasingly overshadowed by a global rise in femicide, with one woman or girl being killed every 10 minutes. This alarming trend underscores the urgent need to strengthen our collective efforts, mechanisms and legal frameworks, which remain insufficient to protect women today.
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By Belinda Matore, an LLD candidate and project officer at the Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria
Imagine a child lacing up their shoes, ready to run onto the field not just to play, but to chase dreams, sometimes their own, sometimes their parents. For many kids, sport is a source of freedom, laughter and discovery. But too often, that joy gets tangled up in adult expectations and ambitions, turning something meant to inspire into a pressure cooker. While parents play a vital role in supporting young athletes, their hopes and desires can clash with a child’s right to choose, enjoy and grow through sport. This tension raises important questions about whose dreams are really being pursued and how we can protect children’s rights to have a voice in the game.
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By Belinda Matore, an LLD candidate and project officer at the Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria
Images of children participating in sport are widespread across social media, club websites, newsletters and broadcasts. While such images celebrate achievement and community, they also expose minors to risks such as exploitation, cyberbullying, identity theft and digital permanence. In South Africa, legal protection for children’s images arises from the Constitution, common law personality rights and the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Yet these frameworks only partially address how children’s images intersect with safeguarding in digital environments.
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The complicit silence or inaction of the AU at preliminary stages like these must be acknowledged and condemned for its direct contribution to the propagation of failed leadership in Africa and the perpetual suppression of its own citizens.
Recent elections in Cameroon and Tanzania have demonstrated further that even at the risk of entrenching undemocratic processes, the African Union (AU) prefers softer approaches towards the realisation of its principles of peace, security and good governance.
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By Tendai Mbanje and Tito Magoti
Reports from polling stations this morning paint a bleak picture of civic abandonment. Between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., some polling station saw no voters at all. A few women arrived between 8:45 and 10 a.m. These polling stations were not staffed by independent electoral officials, but by armed soldiers, an unmistakable symbol of coercion rather than civic participation. Most international election observers had already left the country by yesterday, citing intimidation and threats to their safety, with the EU conducting a ‘diplomatic watch.’ Meanwhile, digital repression intensified: access to platforms like X, TikTok and YouTube has been restricted since yesterday, further isolating citizens and silencing dissent. Huge military presence in major cities has created a climate of fear and terror, further diluting the whole meaning of democratic elections.
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On 26 April 2024, the United Nations Secretary-General launched the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals. The historic Panel brought together governments, intergovernmental and international organisations, industry and civil society, to develop a set of common and voluntary principles to build trust, guide the transition and accelerate the race to renewables. The main reason for setting the panel was to insulate communities from the negative impacts of Critical Energy Transition mining activities on livelihoods, the environment, health, human security and human rights as the world jostles for renewable energy.
