{"id":121709,"date":"2026-04-06T09:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:37:09","slug":"sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name","title":{"rendered":"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong> <\/span>Former Aruu County Member of Parliament Odonga Otto has argued that the proposed National Sovereignty Bill 2026, is a \u201cvery bad law,\u201d in which government is trying to control \u201cthe activities of people outside Uganda and prevents them from influencing the internal matters of Uganda.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaking to Canary Mugume during Next Big Talk hosted by Next Radio on Saturday, Otto claimed that the bill is targeted at former National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, who is currently in the United States undergoing international engagements following a two-month period in hiding after the highly disputed January 15 general elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve read the contents of the National Sovereignty Bill 2026; actually inside of it, they just fell short of adding the name Bobi Wine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Otto also addressed ongoing debates around international advocacy and sanctions, particularly in relation to Bobi Wine. While critical of external lobbying efforts, he cautioned that sanctions could equally affect Bobi\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone who voted in Mityana and is receiving ARVs through donor funding will also suffer. If you call for sanctions on the Ugandan government, even those who voted for NUP will suffer and die,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Otto further warned that \u201cParliament is vulnerable at the moment,\u201d and they are thus growing expectations that the bill will pass if tabled.<\/p>\n

The National Sovereignty Bill 2026 seeks to establish a regulatory framework governing individuals and organisations deemed to be acting on behalf of foreign interests. The proposal introduces requirements for organisations operating in Uganda to disclose any foreign funding within 14 days of receipt, while granting the Minister of Internal Affairs expanded authority to monitor, regulate, and potentially restrict foreign-linked activities.<\/p>\n

It also places oversight under the Ministry\u2019s department responsible for peace and security and introduces a broad classification of \u201cdisruptive activities,\u201d covering actions considered prejudicial to national security, participation in unlawful assemblies, and engagement in activities perceived to promote foreign interests.<\/p>\n

Godber Tumushabe, a law lecturer at Makerere University, during the same talk show, argued that conversations about \u201ccivil society space\u201d are an unnecessary characterisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t run an NGO; I run a think tank space, and I run it as a business. The National Sovereignty Bill 2026 shifts the people’s sovereignty and vests it in government entities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to the discussion, legal expert Timothy Mbalinda Mucunguzi argued that there is a \u201cnecessity for the government to look further into money coming from outside the country into Uganda,\u201d adding that \u201ca foreigner ought not to influence the electoral process of citizens in Uganda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) have defended the legislation as essential for protecting Uganda\u2019s independence. Government Chief Whip Hamson Obua stated that similar laws exist internationally, citing the United Kingdom as an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were colonised by the British; the UK has similar legislation. We are not reinventing the wheel. The proposed law seeks to regulate foreign financial inflows to ensure they are for legitimate purposes and not harmful to Uganda,\u201d he said during a press briefing at Parliament following a caucus meeting on Friday, 27 March.<\/p>\n

The NRM Parliamentary Caucus has positioned the bill as a mechanism to operationalise constitutional principles of sovereignty, emphasising that all power belongs to the people and must be exercised in accordance with their sovereign will.<\/p>\n

The bill has sparked growing debate among civil society organisations, legal analysts, and policy experts across Uganda.<\/p>\n

Critics argue that its broad definitions could allow subjective interpretation, while increased ministerial oversight may create room for abuse of power.<\/p>\n

There are also concerns that restrictions on foreign funding could limit NGO operations and disrupt international partnerships, with observers noting similarities to earlier regulatory efforts targeting externally funded organisations<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Uganda<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Former Aruu County Member of Parliament Odonga Otto has argued that the proposed National Sovereignty Bill 2026, is a \u201cvery bad law,\u201d in which government is trying to control \u201cthe activities of people outside Uganda and prevents them from influencing the internal matters of Uganda.\u201d Speaking to Canary Mugume during Next Big […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":121708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-121709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nSovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Uganda. Former Aruu County Member of ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Uganda. Former Aruu County Member of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T09:21:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T10:37:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T09:21:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T10:37:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name\"},\"wordCount\":639,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name\",\"name\":\"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name - Uganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T09:21:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T10:37:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Uganda. Former Aruu County Member of ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\",\"name\":\"Uganda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name - Uganda","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Uganda. Former Aruu County Member of ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Uganda. Former Aruu County Member of ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name","og_site_name":"Uganda","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-06T09:21:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-06T10:37:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name","datePublished":"2026-04-06T09:21:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T10:37:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name"},"wordCount":639,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg","keywords":["uganda"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name","name":"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name - Uganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-06T09:21:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T10:37:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Uganda. Former Aruu County Member of ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775471680.913129.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/sovereignty-bill-falls-short-of-bobi-wine-name#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sovereignty Bill Falls Short of Bobi Wine Name"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/","name":"Uganda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121723,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121709\/revisions\/121723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}