{"id":122764,"date":"2026-04-28T11:02:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work"},"modified":"2026-04-28T11:59:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:59:04","slug":"fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work","title":{"rendered":"FDC Warns Sovereignty Bill could Criminalise Politics, Media Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. <\/strong><\/span><b>The resident of the Forum for Democratic Change, Patrick Oboi Amuriat, has announced the party\u2019s rejection of the proposed Sovereignty Bill, warning that it could criminalise opposition politics, restrict civil liberties and undermine constitutional rights.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The bill, tabled in Parliament on April 15, 2026 by the State Minister for Internal Affairs, has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition, with Amuriat accusing the ruling National Resistance Movement of introducing legislation aimed at limiting freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bill&#8230; is designed to do one thing to silence, imprison and destroy Ugandans\u2019 ability to speak, assemble, challenge power and live in freedom,\u201d Amuriat said.<\/p>\n<p>He warned that the proposed law could have wide-ranging effects on ordinary citizens, including families that depend on financial support from relatives abroad.<\/p>\n<p>According to Amuriat, provisions in the bill could classify Ugandans in the diaspora as foreigners, potentially subjecting remittances to government approval.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the Ugandan mother&#8230; whose son sends money from London every month, under this bill, your son is a foreigner,\u201d he said while addressing the media in Kampala.<\/p>\n<p>Amuriat also raised concerns about the potential impact on public services supported by foreign funding, including health facilities, warning that such funding could be restricted or subjected to ministerial approval.<\/p>\n<p>The FDC leader further criticised clauses he said could affect journalists, arguing that media practitioners risk severe penalties for publishing information deemed harmful to the country\u2019s economic interests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can be jailed for reporting the truth,\u201d he said, warning of possible prison sentences of up to 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>He compared the bill to the Computer Misuse Act, which has previously been used in cases involving online expression, but described the proposed legislation as \u201ca bigger\u201d threat.<\/p>\n<p>Amuriat said the party\u2019s legal team had reviewed the bill and identified several provisions they believe contravene Uganda\u2019s 1995 Constitution, particularly on citizenship, equality and political participation.<\/p>\n<p>He cited concerns that the bill could effectively criminalise opposition activities by imposing penalties on individuals engaged in political mobilisation with foreign-linked support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis makes opposition politics a criminal enterprise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Amuriat called for a united response from political actors, civil society organisations, journalists and citizens, warning that the law\u2019s impact would extend beyond politics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo every opposition politician, civil society worker, trade unionist and human rights defender, this bill is aimed directly at you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Uganda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Uganda. The resident of the Forum for Democratic Change, Patrick Oboi Amuriat, has announced the party\u2019s rejection of the proposed Sovereignty Bill, warning that it could criminalise opposition politics, restrict civil liberties and undermine constitutional rights. The bill, tabled in Parliament on April 15, 2026 by the State Minister for Internal Affairs, has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":122763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-122764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FDC Warns Sovereignty Bill could Criminalise Politics, Media Work - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The resident of the Forum for Democratic Change, Patrick Oboi Amuriat, has announced the party\u2019s rejection of the pro ...\" \/>\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\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FDC Warns Sovereignty Bill could Criminalise Politics, Media Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The resident of the Forum for Democratic Change, Patrick Oboi Amuriat, has announced the party\u2019s rejection of the pro ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work\" \/>\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=\"2026-04-28T11:02:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-28T11:59:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1777364875.131242.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"361\" \/>\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=\"2 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\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"FDC Warns Sovereignty Bill could Criminalise Politics, Media Work\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-28T11:02:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-28T11:59:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work\"},\"wordCount\":404,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1777364875.131242.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/fdc-warns-sovereignty-bill-could-criminalise-politics-media-work\",\"name\":\"FDC Warns Sovereignty Bill could Criminalise Politics, Media Work - 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