By Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) President Jimmy Akena has strongly criticized the UPDF (Amendment) Bill, 2025, warning that it is part of a broader strategy by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to consolidate one-party rule and erode Uganda’s democratic space.
Speaking in Kampala, Akena accused the NRM government of using the military as a political tool, rooted in a long-standing plan that dates back to its bush war era. He cited an early NRM document from the 1980s, which outlined the group’s intention to dismantle multiparty democracy and entrench a single-party state.
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“The number one objective of the NRM, as stated then, was the removal of the UPC government by force of arms. The second objective was the establishment of a one-party popular democracy under the NRM,” Akena said. “That same ideology has never changed.”
His comments come amid growing debate over the UPDF Amendment Bill, which proposes sweeping changes to the military justice system and broadens the jurisdiction of military courts. Critics have raised alarm that civilians could increasingly be tried in military courts something Uganda’s Supreme Court has previously ruled must be limited to “exceptional circumstances.”
Akena dismissed these amendments as a tactical rebranding of military dominance, not a response to judicial concerns.
“The current reforms don’t address the Supreme Court’s core concern that soldiers remain subordinate to the High Command,” he said. “You can’t pretend to have judicial independence when judges take orders from military commanders.”
He also voiced concern about recent moves to amend the Political Parties and Organizations Act ahead of the 2026 general elections. Akena revealed he had written to the Minister of Justice and other party leaders warning against what he termed “diabolical” attempts to reverse democratic progress.
“Each election cycle comes with suspicious amendments,” he said. “The roots of the Public Order Management Act are in the same NRM bush documents that restricted multiparty activity. These patterns are not accidental they are strategic.”
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Akena criticized the lack of funding for grassroots democracy, including the government’s continued failure to hold LC1 elections. “While political parties are expected to mirror structures from village to national level, the state doesn’t support the same democratic processes it demands,” he said.
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