The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has condemned the Uganda Police Force following reports and video footage showing canine units, tear gas, and heavy security deployed during a National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential campaign rally in Kawempe on November 24, 2025.
The use of police dogs in a political rally represents a grave breach of the citizen’s right to peaceful assembly, ULS said.
The rally drew large crowds, some of whom were reportedly not participants but bystanders on nearby roads.
In a statement, ULS Vice President Asiimwe Anthony said, “Unleashing dogs in a campaign rally is a tool of threat, fear and force and this must not be tolerated.”
He added, “Historically, police dog deployment during public protests carries a deeply oppressive legacy. During apartheid, South African police developed a terrifying police‑dog regime. Law‑enforcement agencies must not revive such tools of intimidation.”
Asiimwe warned that continuing such practices undermines democratic norms and taints the country’s policing record.
Social media videos show police canine units being driven toward civilians, including women and youths standing on the roadside, while officers with batons and shields followed behind.
Security forces reportedly fired multiple tear gas canisters near the Kawempe‑Ttula junction, sending roadside traders, taxi passengers and schoolchildren fleeing in panic. Some youths filming the events on their mobile phones were immediately arrested, while others scattered into nearby alleys.
The arrests were not limited to rally participants; several detained individuals were ordinary pedestrians, boda‑boda riders, or bystanders using public roads near the venue. The police action left a number of NUP supporters injured and forced some to flee, a chaotic scene compared by many observers to historical episodes of state repression.
ULS has called for an immediate and unconditional stop to the use of police dogs at any political rally or campaign, the unconditional release of all civilians arrested arbitrarily in Kawempe during the campaign events, and strict compliance by law‑enforcement agencies with constitutional policing standards that respect human dignity, liberty, and the rights of all citizens.
ULS warned that if state security agencies continue to treat living creatures as instruments of political coercion and detain innocent bystanders, this undermines the very foundation of the rule of law in Uganda.
The recent crackdown in Kawempe, marked by the use of tear gas, water cannons, pepper spray, and police dogs, appears to form part of an escalating pattern of intimidation and suppression ahead of the 2026 elections. The opposition alleges these actions are aimed at discouraging turnout, suppressing dissent and undermining democratic competition ahead of the polls.
The deployment of police dogs, a tactic internationally associated with repression and intimidation, during political rallies shows worry in crowd control practices in Uganda.
