Uganda, April 23 -- The Attorney General, Mr. Kiryowa Kiwanuka, published a defence of the Protection of Sovereignty Bill, 2026 (the "Bill"), arguing that it is a measured, internationally benchmarked instrument designed to curb covert foreign interference whilst preserving Uganda's openness to legitimate foreign engagement. 

The Attorney General's contentions are attractive in the abstract. The difficulty is that the Bill, as gazetted, does not say what the Attorney General says it says. This paper examines each of the Attorney General's claims against the language of the Bill itself and identifies six points on which his assurances are unsupported, partially supported, or materially misleading.

I. The Bill does not distinguish be...