Sarah Bireete

Sarah Bireete
CitizenshipUganda
OccupationLawyer
Years active2011–present
OrganizationCenter for Constitutional Governance
Known forHuman rights activism
TelevisionUBC Behind The Headlines
Criminal status
Acquitted

Sarah Bireete is a Ugandan lawyer, human rights defender, and political activist. She is the founding partner and executive director of the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), a non-governmental organization and government watchdog based in Uganda. Bireete also serves as a chairperson of the East and Horn of Africa Elections Observers Network (E-HORN), a coalition of election observer groups working to protect electoral integrity in East Africa.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Career

In 2020, Bireete was appointed as the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), having served as its deputy executive director from 2011 to 2019. She is also a chairperson of the East and Horn of Africa Elections Observers Network (E-HORN). Previously, she had worked in the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving as a national coordinator for the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.

Prior to 2011, she was a public defender and member of the Public Defenders Association of Uganda. Bireete practices as a lawyer, and is a partner at Dickens Kamugisha & Co. in Kampala. She has also served as a panelist on the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) political show UBC Behind The Headlines, and currently performs the same role on Civic Space TV's Chat Show UG, the digital outreach arm of the CCG.[1][3][6]

Bireete chairs the national coalition on civic space in Uganda, and is a member of Vuka Allies for Uganda, a coalition of local activist groups that aims to combat political repression. As a political activist, she has publicaly advocated for various causes in areas of constitutionalism, human rights, electoral democracy, land rights, public interest litigation, and conflict transformation.[1][3]

Controversies

On June 14, 2009, Bireete was arrested by the Uganda Police Force and charged with embezzlement and abuse of office in her role at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was remanded to Luzira Prison until June 26, when she stood trial in Uganda's Anti-Corruption Court.[8] During the trial, prosecutors accused her of embezzling a total of USD$114,160 between February and May 2009. Judge John Bosco Katutsi found Bireete guilty on all charges, and she was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.[9]

Bireete appealed the verdict to the Court of Appeal of Uganda.[10] In 2016, the Court of Appeal acquitted her of abuse of office, but upheld her conviction for embezzlement. Bireete appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Uganda, which unanimously acquitted her of embezzlement.[10] In a majority 4-1 decision, Supreme Court justices Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, Eldad Mwangusya, Rubby Opio-Aweri, and Paul Mugamba ruled that the prosecution's case against her did not satisfy the required burden of proof, and that there was no evidence directly linking her to the embezzlement of the lost money.[11]

On December 30, 2025, Sarah Bireete was arrested and remanded to Luzira Prison on charges of unlawfully obtaining and publishing data from the National Voters' Register.[12][13] Amnesty International criticized the arrest as "arbitrary" and in violation of bail guidelines, and noted that it highlighted a growing pattern of repression against political opposition in Uganda.[14]

On January 28, 2026, Sarah Bireete was granted bail by the chief magistrate of Buganda Road Court, and was subsequently released from police custody.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "DR. BIREETE SARAH". Front Line Defenders. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  2. ↑ "Sarah Bireete". Monitor. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sarah Bireete". E-HORN. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  4. ↑ Byemboijana, Muhamadi (18 February 2025). "Women Activists Demand Urgent Medical Care for Dr. Besigye as Health Deteriorates". SoftPower News. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  5. ↑ Zbona, Ana. "HRD Interview: Sarah Bireete, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), Uganda". Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  6. 1 2 Atukunda, Rogers (7 May 2022). "Dr Sarah Bireete Elected Chairperson of East and Horn of Africa Election Observers Network". SoftPower News. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "DR. Sarah Bireete - Center for Constitutional Governance". 1 July 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Anyoli, Edward (14 June 2009). "Uganda: Foreign Affairs Official Remanded". All Africa. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Athumani, Halima (4 March 2011). "Former Ministry Employees Gets Ten- Years Jail Term". Uganda Radio Network. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Dr. Sarah Bireete on Fighting For Democracy in Uganda". Mwanzo TV. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  11. ↑ Reporter, NELSON MANDELA | PML Daily (12 May 2020). "Supreme Court acquits ex-Foreign Affairs official Bireete - PML Daily". Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  12. ↑ "Detention of Dr. Bireete Puts Uganda's 2026 Election Credibility in Focus – Parliament Watch". parliamentwatch.ug. 31 December 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  13. ↑ "Fanon App for Knowing Your Polling Station in Uganda: Founder Were Salim Arrested - Nymy Net". 7 January 2026. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  14. ↑ "Uganda: Human rights lawyer arbitrarily detained: Dr. Sarah Bireete". Amnesty International. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  15. ↑ Independent, The (28 January 2026). "Sarah Bireete granted bail". The Independent Uganda. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
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