Eronda
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- Dec 16, 2025
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Late in February, the bank accounts of some five civil society organisations (CSOs) were frozen at the behest of the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA).
Mr Samuel Wandera, the FIA executive director, did not say why Agora Centre for Research (Agora CFR), Chapter Four Uganda (CFU), the African Institute for Investigative Journalism (AIIJ), the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG) and the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies (GLISS) could not access their accounts.
Information published on the website www.fundsforngos.org, however, indicated that the move was precipitated by what was described as an “ongoing investigation into suspected financial irregularities and the sources of their funding.”
This is not the first time that the accounts of CSOs have been frozen on the watch of the FIA, a government agency established in 2014 to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
For GLISS and CFU, the recent account freeze is a repeat of what is fast turning into a familiar, if not frustrating, story. The frustration is perhaps best captured in the words of Mr Godber Tumushabe, the head at GLISS.
“Sometimes you get the impression that these FIA people either like The Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies or they are just redundant with these kinds of stories,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter) handle.
Some of the entities whose accounts were frozen are part of the 10 CSOs that were indefinitely suspended in January by the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations for allegedly operating in a manner that was likely to jeopardise national security.
Deputy Presidential Press Secretary, Faruk Kirunda. PHOTO/COURTESY
Mr Faruk Kirunda, the deputy spokesperson of the President, who also doubles as a presidential assistant on political matters, says there was credible information to justify the actions of FIA.
“Most of those affected must have gone out of line. The President had good intelligence on their activities. The purge is normal because no country can allow destabilising actors. When these irregularities are addressed, there is hope at the end of the tunnel that normal operations of the organisations will resume. They have not been banned,” Mr Kirunda says.
Targeted?
Some watchers of the political landscape believe that the latest action against the five CSOs is aimed at ramping up the pressure in what appears to be a sustained campaign spanning several years. The Lord Mayor of Kampala, Mr Erias Lukwago, believes that it is part of a process of clamping down on CSOs and suppressing all forms of dissent.
“You see, just like political dissent has been criminalised, civil society activism has also been criminalised. Now they are stretching it to the realm of money laundering,” Mr Lukwago said in a previous interview.
The prime targets, Mr Lukwago says, are organisations and individuals perceived to be sympathetic to those opposed to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) or those that are critical of Mr Museveni and his party.
That thinking is captured by the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) 2024, an analysis and evaluation of how developing countries and those in transition go about implementing changes aimed at moving them towards greater democracy. The index is based on 17 indicators, including, among others, political participation and stability of democratic institutions, and political and social integration.
“While citizens are free to join political parties and civic groups, the overall political environment is rather hostile to free political and civic associations and activities seen as either oppositional to or critical of the ruling party and government,” says the index.
Mr Livingstone Sewanyana, the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), agrees with the conclusions of the BTI index.
“The bans, suspensions and freezing of accounts are largely attributed to suspicion that these organisations are aligned to particular political activities or parties, but more specifically, they think that they align to particular Opposition parties, NUP [National Unity Platform] and PFF [People's Front for Freedom],” Mr Sewanyana says.
‘Regime change agenda’
Mr Sewanyana says most of the CSOs that have been on the receiving end are those that have been active in the areas of governance, human rights and democracy, a conclusion which Ms Sarah Bireete, the executive director for CCG, agrees with.
“Those involved in pushing for the rule of law, fidelity with the law and the constitution, human rights, election integrity and accountability are the only ones who have been the subject of suspensions since 2017. They are the only category of NGOs that are suspended, closed, raided and face all sorts of sanctions because the government does not want to be called out to account,” Ms Bireete told Weekly Politics.
Ms Sarah Bireete in the dock at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court on January 2, 2026. Photo | Abubaker Lubowa
According to Ms Bireete, even foreigners who have been perceived to be aiding the cause of the Opposition have not been spared. The government had by November 2020 deported at least two heads of United States (US) and European Union (EU) based NGOs amid accusations within government circles that they had been pursuing a “regime change agenda”.
Three other foreign nationals who headed non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that had been involved in civic education and strengthening political parties ahead of the 2021 General Election were barred from returning to Uganda.
Mr Simon Osborn, who had been hired by the EU Delegation on a short-term technical assistance consultancy contract that aimed to advise on projects aimed at strengthening Uganda’s electoral processes, was the first person to be deported.
He had, prior to that, worked in Uganda for seven years as the country director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a United States-based organisation that champions the promotion of democracy across the world. He was picked up from his apartment in the upmarket Nakasero area, held briefly before being bundled onto a plane.
“We have no information about the motivation for his deportation, and we understand that Mr Osborn himself was not given any reasons at the time of his deportation,” Mr Attilio Pacifici, the EU head of delegation at the time, said in a brief statement issued through the office of the EU’s press advisor, Mr Emmanuel Gyezaho.
Blocked returns
A Kenyan national, Mr Isaack Othieno, who had taken over as the acting head of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), a US-based NGO that works for the advancement of democracy, was the second to be deported under unclear circumstances.
He was picked up from the Sheraton Hotel, where he had been residing, bundled onto a police pick-up truck and driven to Busia, at the common border with Kenya and told never to return.
Three other foreign nationals who had been working in the country were barred from returning after they had left for short holidays. They were identified as Mr Marco Deswart, Ms Roseline Idele and Ms Lara Petrivevic.
Mr Deswart was the head of election programmes at the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF). The programme aimed to strengthen political parties and make them vehicles through which democracy could be strengthened. He was informed through the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Uganda considered him a persona non grata in July 2020.
Ms Idele, who was the acting country director of NDI in Uganda, had reportedly been at the forefront of supporting programmes aimed at strengthening democratic institutions as a means of advancing democracy. She travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2020, but was barred from returning in October.
Ms Petrivevic, who was the director of the International Republican Institute (IRI), an American non-profit organisation which works for the advancement of freedoms and democracy worldwide, reportedly left Uganda for Wales, where she was due to have a baby, but was later informed that she was not welcome to return.
The DGF headache
This can be traced back to the government’s decision to suspend the activities of the DGF, a basket fund which was previously financed by the governments of Denmark, Ireland, Austria, the UK, Sweden, Norway, and the EU to facilitate equitable growth, poverty eradication, rule of law and long-term stability.
Mr Museveni, in a January 2, 2021, letter to Finance minister Matia Kasaija, argued that DGF funds were being “used to finance activities and organisations designed to subvert (the) government under the guise of improving governance”.
Mr Museveni also slammed Keith Muhakanizi, who was the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), for having “irregularly and unilaterally” licensed DGF to operate with very limited involvement by Ugandans.
“How is it possible that the Ugandans whose affairs are being dealt with here can only be spectators in the management of their own affairs? This is not the financing of a private business but the funding of State and non-State actors to achieve the political objective of the funders,” Mr Museveni wrote.
The President argued that the Attorney General or Cabinet should have been involved in the process of approval.
“How and why did the minister of Finance unilaterally make such a major decision with far reaching consequences, let alone one whose effect is to surrender the sovereignty of the people of Uganda to foreigners? Was this a reason for subversion, corruption, or criminal intelligence, or all of these? Why wasn't the Cabinet and I consulted?” Mr Museveni wrote.
On February 18, 2021, Mr Museveni and the EU diplomats held a meeting at State House Entebbe and the parties formed an ad hoc committee, headed by Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, to spearhead the negotiations aimed at ensuring that a new governance structure.
Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/ma...pinch-as-govt-turns-on-the-heat-5406446#story
Mr Samuel Wandera, the FIA executive director, did not say why Agora Centre for Research (Agora CFR), Chapter Four Uganda (CFU), the African Institute for Investigative Journalism (AIIJ), the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG) and the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies (GLISS) could not access their accounts.
Information published on the website www.fundsforngos.org, however, indicated that the move was precipitated by what was described as an “ongoing investigation into suspected financial irregularities and the sources of their funding.”
This is not the first time that the accounts of CSOs have been frozen on the watch of the FIA, a government agency established in 2014 to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
For GLISS and CFU, the recent account freeze is a repeat of what is fast turning into a familiar, if not frustrating, story. The frustration is perhaps best captured in the words of Mr Godber Tumushabe, the head at GLISS.
“Sometimes you get the impression that these FIA people either like The Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies or they are just redundant with these kinds of stories,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter) handle.
Some of the entities whose accounts were frozen are part of the 10 CSOs that were indefinitely suspended in January by the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations for allegedly operating in a manner that was likely to jeopardise national security.
Deputy Presidential Press Secretary, Faruk Kirunda. PHOTO/COURTESY
Mr Faruk Kirunda, the deputy spokesperson of the President, who also doubles as a presidential assistant on political matters, says there was credible information to justify the actions of FIA.
“Most of those affected must have gone out of line. The President had good intelligence on their activities. The purge is normal because no country can allow destabilising actors. When these irregularities are addressed, there is hope at the end of the tunnel that normal operations of the organisations will resume. They have not been banned,” Mr Kirunda says.
Targeted?
Some watchers of the political landscape believe that the latest action against the five CSOs is aimed at ramping up the pressure in what appears to be a sustained campaign spanning several years. The Lord Mayor of Kampala, Mr Erias Lukwago, believes that it is part of a process of clamping down on CSOs and suppressing all forms of dissent.
“You see, just like political dissent has been criminalised, civil society activism has also been criminalised. Now they are stretching it to the realm of money laundering,” Mr Lukwago said in a previous interview.
The prime targets, Mr Lukwago says, are organisations and individuals perceived to be sympathetic to those opposed to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) or those that are critical of Mr Museveni and his party.
That thinking is captured by the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) 2024, an analysis and evaluation of how developing countries and those in transition go about implementing changes aimed at moving them towards greater democracy. The index is based on 17 indicators, including, among others, political participation and stability of democratic institutions, and political and social integration.
“While citizens are free to join political parties and civic groups, the overall political environment is rather hostile to free political and civic associations and activities seen as either oppositional to or critical of the ruling party and government,” says the index.
Mr Livingstone Sewanyana, the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), agrees with the conclusions of the BTI index.
“The bans, suspensions and freezing of accounts are largely attributed to suspicion that these organisations are aligned to particular political activities or parties, but more specifically, they think that they align to particular Opposition parties, NUP [National Unity Platform] and PFF [People's Front for Freedom],” Mr Sewanyana says.
‘Regime change agenda’
Mr Sewanyana says most of the CSOs that have been on the receiving end are those that have been active in the areas of governance, human rights and democracy, a conclusion which Ms Sarah Bireete, the executive director for CCG, agrees with.
“Those involved in pushing for the rule of law, fidelity with the law and the constitution, human rights, election integrity and accountability are the only ones who have been the subject of suspensions since 2017. They are the only category of NGOs that are suspended, closed, raided and face all sorts of sanctions because the government does not want to be called out to account,” Ms Bireete told Weekly Politics.
Ms Sarah Bireete in the dock at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court on January 2, 2026. Photo | Abubaker Lubowa
According to Ms Bireete, even foreigners who have been perceived to be aiding the cause of the Opposition have not been spared. The government had by November 2020 deported at least two heads of United States (US) and European Union (EU) based NGOs amid accusations within government circles that they had been pursuing a “regime change agenda”.
Three other foreign nationals who headed non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that had been involved in civic education and strengthening political parties ahead of the 2021 General Election were barred from returning to Uganda.
Mr Simon Osborn, who had been hired by the EU Delegation on a short-term technical assistance consultancy contract that aimed to advise on projects aimed at strengthening Uganda’s electoral processes, was the first person to be deported.
He had, prior to that, worked in Uganda for seven years as the country director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a United States-based organisation that champions the promotion of democracy across the world. He was picked up from his apartment in the upmarket Nakasero area, held briefly before being bundled onto a plane.
“We have no information about the motivation for his deportation, and we understand that Mr Osborn himself was not given any reasons at the time of his deportation,” Mr Attilio Pacifici, the EU head of delegation at the time, said in a brief statement issued through the office of the EU’s press advisor, Mr Emmanuel Gyezaho.
Blocked returns
A Kenyan national, Mr Isaack Othieno, who had taken over as the acting head of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), a US-based NGO that works for the advancement of democracy, was the second to be deported under unclear circumstances.
He was picked up from the Sheraton Hotel, where he had been residing, bundled onto a police pick-up truck and driven to Busia, at the common border with Kenya and told never to return.
Three other foreign nationals who had been working in the country were barred from returning after they had left for short holidays. They were identified as Mr Marco Deswart, Ms Roseline Idele and Ms Lara Petrivevic.
Mr Deswart was the head of election programmes at the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF). The programme aimed to strengthen political parties and make them vehicles through which democracy could be strengthened. He was informed through the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Uganda considered him a persona non grata in July 2020.
Ms Idele, who was the acting country director of NDI in Uganda, had reportedly been at the forefront of supporting programmes aimed at strengthening democratic institutions as a means of advancing democracy. She travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2020, but was barred from returning in October.
Ms Petrivevic, who was the director of the International Republican Institute (IRI), an American non-profit organisation which works for the advancement of freedoms and democracy worldwide, reportedly left Uganda for Wales, where she was due to have a baby, but was later informed that she was not welcome to return.
The DGF headache
This can be traced back to the government’s decision to suspend the activities of the DGF, a basket fund which was previously financed by the governments of Denmark, Ireland, Austria, the UK, Sweden, Norway, and the EU to facilitate equitable growth, poverty eradication, rule of law and long-term stability.
Mr Museveni, in a January 2, 2021, letter to Finance minister Matia Kasaija, argued that DGF funds were being “used to finance activities and organisations designed to subvert (the) government under the guise of improving governance”.
Mr Museveni also slammed Keith Muhakanizi, who was the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), for having “irregularly and unilaterally” licensed DGF to operate with very limited involvement by Ugandans.
“How is it possible that the Ugandans whose affairs are being dealt with here can only be spectators in the management of their own affairs? This is not the financing of a private business but the funding of State and non-State actors to achieve the political objective of the funders,” Mr Museveni wrote.
The President argued that the Attorney General or Cabinet should have been involved in the process of approval.
“How and why did the minister of Finance unilaterally make such a major decision with far reaching consequences, let alone one whose effect is to surrender the sovereignty of the people of Uganda to foreigners? Was this a reason for subversion, corruption, or criminal intelligence, or all of these? Why wasn't the Cabinet and I consulted?” Mr Museveni wrote.
On February 18, 2021, Mr Museveni and the EU diplomats held a meeting at State House Entebbe and the parties formed an ad hoc committee, headed by Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, to spearhead the negotiations aimed at ensuring that a new governance structure.
Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/ma...pinch-as-govt-turns-on-the-heat-5406446#story