United States of America (USA) Senate Foreign Relations Committee has condemned the January 15,2026 Uganda’s elections, describing them as a “hollow exercise” designed to extend President Yoweri Museveni’s four-decade rule.
The committee chairman Senator Jim Risch said in the statement released on Friday 23, January, that Uganda’s elections were compared to recent polls in neighbouring Tanzania, which he said were similarly staged to maintain entrenched ruling parties in power.
“Uganda’s elections, like the recent elections in Tanzania, were a hollow exercise, staged to legitimise President Museveni’s seventh term and four decades in power,” part of Risch’s statement reads.
Risch warned that Uganda’s ruling regime relies on political violence, abductions, imprisonment, intimidation of opponents and the misuse of state resources to retain control, calling for a review of whether sanctions may be warranted against key figures, including president Museveni’s son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
The USA’s senator called on the Trump Administration to reassess her security relationship with Uganda, including a review of whether sanctions may be warranted against specific actors.
“I applaud how the Trump Administration is pursuing commercial and security gains in the region, but I’m concerned this will be increasingly difficult to do given the current trajectory. As with Tanzania, the administration should reassess the US security relationship with Uganda, beginning with a review of whether sanctions are warranted under existing authorities against specific actors, including General Muhoozi,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen, the committee’s ranking member, and Cory Booker, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, issued a castigated the Uganda’s polls, saying it was another blow to the pursuit of democracy.
They cited attacks on journalists, jailing of opposition figures, the use of tear gas against peaceful demonstrators, reported abductions, and violence by the security forces in the period leading up to the vote.
The USA senators also condemned the nationwide internet blackout, arguing it undermined Ugandans’ constitutional rights to freedom of expression.
They expressed concern over what they called the continued threats by Gen. Muhoozi against opposition figures; Bobi Wine, before calling for the immediate release of incarcerated Dr. Kiiza Besigye and rights defender Sarah Bireete.
“The Trump Administration and US State Department must use all tools available, including a review of US security assistance, to hold individuals in Uganda accountable for undermining democratic principles and endangering the lives of citizens seeking to freely participate in the election.”
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