Irene Nakibuuka, 22, Dies After Alleged Post-Election Abduction in Uganda
Kampala, Uganda – A 22-year-old Ugandan woman, Irene Nakibuuka, has died following a harrowing ordeal she claimed began with her abduction by security forces after the country’s general elections on January 15, 2026. Her death on April 5 has intensified calls for justice and raised troubling questions about post-election treatment of political dissenters.
Nakibuuka, a resident of Ntewe in Kyankwanzi district, alleged that she and several other young women were abducted by masked Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers while talking about the elections. She claimed they were held at an undisclosed location, where they were kept naked, blindfolded, forced to spend nights standing in water, and injected with unknown substances multiple times.
In a TikTok video shared by activist Denis Yub on March 9, and later in a March 13 interview with Agora CFR, Nakibuuka detailed her captivity. She said she was injected seven times and told by her captors that she would “never joke with the military government in power again.” She was released on February 14 – Valentine’s Day – but her health rapidly deteriorated.
Upon her release, she suffered from persistent vomiting of a black substance, severe pain, and what she believed was kidney damage. Activists Agather Atuhaire and Denis Yub helped coordinate her travel to Mulago National Referral Hospital using over 800,000 Ugandan shillings in public donations.
Medical tests conducted at Mulago revealed several critical conditions: a new diagnosis of HIV with no history of antiretroviral therapy (ART), pulmonary tuberculosis with gross pleural effusion and moderate ascites, and Kaposi’s sarcoma – a cancer often associated with immunosuppression.
However, before all results were available, Nakibuuka fled the hospital. According to those assisting her, she had given up on life. It remains unconfirmed whether she contracted these illnesses during her alleged detention or if the conditions of her captivity aggravated pre-existing health issues.
Activist Jim Spire Ssentongo captured the raw grief and anger felt by many, posting on X: “She’s dead! For them it’s just politics, for another family it is a loved one gone – just because she held a different political opinion!… Can we ever have peace where we’ve inflicted such pointless permanent pain on others?”
Nakibuuka was reportedly a supporter of the National Unity Platform (NUP) led by Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu, also known as Bobi Wine, the main opposition figure against President Yoweri Museveni’s long-standing government.
As of this publication, there has been no official response from Ugandan authorities, including the UPDF or police, regarding the allegations. The claims remain unverified, and the exact circumstances surrounding her abduction, detention, and subsequent death are still unclear.
Her death comes amid ongoing post-election tensions in Uganda and has been cited by activists as a stark example of the human cost of political violence. Meanwhile, some have drawn parallels to recent statements by Burkina Faso’s military ruler, Ibrahim Traoré, who argued against multiparty democracy in Africa, claiming elections have led to the deaths of innocent people.
For now, Nakibuuka’s family and a growing circle of human rights advocates are left mourning a young life lost – and demanding answers that have yet to come.
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