Members of the newly formed Communist League of Uganda were arrested and allegedly subjected to severe treatment by state security forces days after the organization concluded its inaugural National Congress, according to a statement issued by the League.
The Communist League of Uganda said several of its members, including Vice Chairperson Habibu Twahala, Odeke Dan, and Namususwa Patricia, were arrested on August 29, 2026, while participating in a mobilization drive.
The arrests came shortly after the League held its first National Congress, marking the organization’s formal effort to establish itself as a political organization representing working-class interests in Uganda.
According to the League, however, its members were targeted for engaging in political mobilization.
Their “crime,” the organization said, was “nothing more than standing up, in public, for the dignity of the working people of Uganda.”
“For this, they were seized, detained, and held against their will by a state apparatus that fears the organized power of its own people,” the League said.
Allegations of mistreatment
The League alleges that the arrested members were severely beaten while in detention.
Those involved in securing their release said they remained concerned about their physical condition, with the detainees reportedly not feeling well following their treatment in custody. The League said the detained members were eventually released following pressure and mobilization from supporters in Uganda and abroad.
“We are relieved to report that, following sustained pressure, mobilization, and the unrelenting demands of comrades both at home and abroad, all those detained have now been released,” the statement said.
But the organization insists that it did not regard the release as an end to the matter.
“But their freedom was not given, it was extracted, bitterly and only after our collective refusal to remain silent,” the League said.
League calls out wider repression
The Communist League of Uganda said the arrests should be understood within a wider political context.
“This arrest did not occur in a vacuum,” the League said. “It is part of a broader pattern of state repression against organizers, trade unionists, and left political movements across Uganda who dare to challenge entrenched power, corruption, and the economic order that keeps the majority of our people in poverty while a small elite enriches itself.”
The organization argued that the criminalization of political mobilization was directly connected to the ability of working people to organize collectively.
“Mass mobilization is criminalized precisely because it is effective, because when working people organize and raise their voices together, they threaten the interests that depend on their silence and division,” it said.
The League further said that the arrests represented an attempt to discourage political organizing beyond the individuals detained.
“The targeting of Comrades Twahala, Odeke, and Namususwa is an attack not just on three individuals, but on the right of all Ugandans to organize, assemble, and demand a better future,” the statement said.
“It is an attempt to instill fear in our ranks and to deter others from joining the struggle. We say clearly it will not work.”
Calls for political freedoms
Following the arrests, the Communist League of Uganda demanded an end to what it described as harassment and surveillance of its members and other activists involved in peaceful political organizing.
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The League called for guarantees of the constitutional rights to freedom of assembly, expression and political association for all Ugandan citizens.
It also demanded that any remaining charges or conditions imposed on the released members be dropped.
The organization appealed to communist, socialist and progressive organizations internationally to publicize what it described as an act of repression.
“We call upon fraternal communist, socialist, and progressive organizations across the world to publicize this act of repression through your own networks, publications, and platforms,” the statement said.
The Communist Party Marxist of Kenya also expressed solidarity with the Communist League of Uganda and called for the release of its members.
Arrests follow inaugural congress
Notably, the arrests came immediately after the Communist League of Uganda’s inaugural National Congress, at a moment when the organization is attempting to consolidate its structures and expand its political work.
The emergence of the League adds another left-wing organization to Uganda’s contested political realities, where opposition politicians, activists, trade unionists and civil society groups have raised concerns over restrictions on political organizing and public assembly.
The political environment has also included the continued detention of opposition figure Kizza Besigye, whose case has drawn international attention and renewed scrutiny of political freedoms in Uganda.
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