For attention: heads of Oppenheimer Partners, MTN and Standard Bank
Sirs,
The Uganda election is just one month away. Already, it has been characterised by violence against opposition supporters, the securitisation of civic space, constraints on opposition mobilisation, threats, and intimidation.
I am writing this letter to you as people who represent the corporate interests of South African entities. which are invested in Uganda. I am doing so to warn that Uganda’s future is likely to get more violent and uncertain if this regime continues to operate unchecked, in a manner which would not only affect your reputation, but your investments themselves.
Ugandans have long looked up to South Africa for its anti-apartheid struggle and the manner in which its people have managed their differences since, despite the years of racial oppression. This history should encourage you never to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses. lt should demand that you display leadership among the international community in focusing on the brutal governance anarchy under way in Uganda.
We have become used to the hypocrisy of outside powers, who make deals with our oppressors while feeding us the crumbs of aid – aid, which is itself most of the time squandered or used against the people.
We expect the same hypocrisy from those investors who made their money under apartheid, putting profits always before the people. But we don’t expect the same from companies based in countries whose people take pride in their democratic systems.
Our elections are scheduled for 15 January 2026. Our campaign has been subjected to ccntinuous harassment and violence. with more than 400 of our party members detained. Extreme brutality – extra judicial killings, torture, abductions, teargassing, intimidation, and violence are the staple of this regime’s response to democracy. Such strongarm tactics are the only way it can protect its rule against the forces of democracy.
Without everyone playing their part, there is a danger that this election outcome will be manipulated to unfairly elect a leader that does not represent the future needs of Ugandans.
The average age of Ugandans is 17. Our population is projected to increase from 49 million today to 97 million in just 25 years. And yet we have been ruled by General Yoweri Museveni, who is 82, for 40 years now. To stay in power, he has become a despot, a ruler who fixes elections and violently suppresses the opposition. This, in a country that has not seen any peaceful transfer of power from one leader to another since independence in 1962.
You would think things couldn’t get worse, but he is already propping up his brutal son to replace him. As commander of our nation’s military, he is responsible for the brutality we face daily at the hands of a few within the army. A man who openly talks on social media about wanting to beat, hang, torture, and kill opponents of the autocratic regime! His shocking and demeaning posts offer an insight into the mind which you, as foreign investors, could have to deal with.
Last year, the respected human rights activist, Dr. Kizza Besigye, was arrested and brought to trial before a military tribunal on allegations of treason. Besigye, who was Museveni’s comrade-in-arms and his doctor during the civil war, was kidnapped in Kenya and illegally transported across the border before being arraigned before a military tribunal. This past February, Muhoozi posted that Besigye would leave prison either “in his coffin after we hang him or shoot him or on his knees apologising to Mzee.” To date, Besigye remains in detention without trial. He earlier posted about me, saying: “lf Mzee was not there, l would cut off his head today.”
While this nightmare for the people of Uganda unfolds, we are calling on you as among the top investors in Uganda to take a strong and open, written public stand and demand that the regime cease its repression of opposition and respect the rule of law. Use your access to General Museveni to ask him to avert a potential tragedy by ensuring that elections are free and fair – the only way to guarantee sustainable peace and development.
It can only be a moment away that some of you will be expected to play your part and turn off the internet as the ruling party shows its authoritarian colours. We know this because it has happened before. We call on all investors to state publicly that they will not comply with orders to turn off the internet, for democracy dies in darkness.
You might think that our youthful and growing population represents a tremendous business opportunity. That it does, in principle. The spirit of Ugandans is unbroken and remarkable in not only making a living in spite of the odds but in persisting with democracy when confronted with such violence by the state.
Yet without leadership that owns our challenges and represents the interests and concerns of the majority, we will not experience a demographic dividend. Rather, the only prospect is for growing repression. And that will be very bad for business, and importantly for future stability and progress.
Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert ‘Bobi Wine’
Presidential Candidate, National Unity Platform
Kampala, Uganda