Praise Aloikin Opoloje
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Court now awaits activist Praise Aloikin Opoloje, who is expected to appear before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court on Monday afternoon to answer allegations of broadcasting without a licence.
The court appearance follows confirmation by police that Opoloje, a human rights activist and final-year law student at Makerere University, is in custody after days of uncertainty over her whereabouts.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said Opoloje was arrested last week over allegations linked to broadcasting without a licence.
“Apoloje Praise, who was arrested last week on allegations of broadcasting without a license, will also appear this afternoon before the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Buganda Road,” Owoyesigyire said in a notice to journalists.
The statement marked the first official confirmation of both her arrest and the specific allegation against her.
It came after Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke confirmed on Monday, September 28, that Opoloje was being held by police and would be brought before court.
“She is in police hands, and at an appropriate time she will be placed in front of the temple of justice to answer to allegations against her, having knowingly misused her digital handle and offended,” Rusoke said.
Rusoke did not initially identify the offence, but warned that social media users who violate the law should expect to be arrested and prosecuted.
“There are several other people in this category who, when arrested, try to demonstrate shock that they have been arrested,” he said.
“You will be arrested and taken on as long as you break the law of the country.”
The circumstances surrounding Opoloje’s arrest have, however, remained a major point of controversy.
She was reported missing on Saturday, September 26, after she went to Namungoona Police Station over a dispute involving a carpet.
According to Agora Discourse, an activist group with which she has worked, Opoloje voluntarily went to the station accompanied by a friend and carrying the carpet after police summoned her over a complaint.
The group later alleged that armed men arrived at the station, forced her into a vehicle and drove away. Her whereabouts were unknown for some time, prompting lawyers and civil society organisations to demand that security agencies disclose where she was being held.
She was subsequently traced to Kampala Central Police Station.
Fellow activist Agather Atuhaire alleged that police officers told Opoloje that military intelligence personnel were looking for her over remarks she had made about Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Police have not publicly confirmed that account.
The arrest also follows a TikTok video in which authorities said Opoloje hurled insults at Muhoozi. However, police have not stated whether that particular video forms the basis of the broadcasting allegation.
They have also not released a charge sheet detailing the specific broadcast or the particulars of the alleged offence.
The Buganda Road court proceedings are therefore expected to provide greater clarity on the formal charge against Opoloje and the evidence upon which the prosecution case is based.
Opoloje is known for her human rights and civil liberties activism and received the European Union’s Human Rights Defenders Award in 2025.
Her case has consequently attracted attention from activists and lawyers, particularly over the circumstances of her detention and the distinction between the allegations surrounding her social media activity and the formal offence she is expected to face in court.
