FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 29, 2026
ALBINISM UMBRELLA DEMANDS URGENT ACTION AS POLICE NEGLIGENCE ENDANGERS LIFE OF UGANDAN WOMAN WITH ALBINISM
KAMPALA, UGANDA — Albinism Umbrella condemns in the strongest terms the life-threatening police negligence that has left Ms. Sylvia Nakiyemba, a 50-year-old woman with albinism from Nakatogo Village, Kyotera District, without protection following a failed ritual attack on March 4, 2026. The organization warns that without immediate intervention, Uganda risks adding another preventable death to a regional crisis that, just this week, claimed the life of Chipiliro Laston, a 45-year-old man with albinism brutally murdered in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The Kyotera Case: A Preventable Tragedy in Motion
On March 4, 2026, suspected attackers raided a neighbor’s home in Nakatogo Village. Upon being apprehended by community members, the attackers confessed they had been sent by Luwooza Gozanga the brother of both Ms. Nakiyemba and her late sister, Margaret Nakabubi, a woman with albinism who was murdered in March 2023. Margaret’s body was discovered with her arm, breast, and private parts removed, and her body burnt. That case remains unsolved to this day, with no arrests or prosecutions.
Despite the attackers’ confession, witness testimony, and the established pattern of targeted violence against persons with albinism in this family, Nakatogo Police Station has refused to register Ms. Nakiyemba’s case, dismissing it as a “family matter.” The Kyotera District Police Commander, when approached on March 16, 2026, reportedly stated that “courts of law only attend to people who have firsthand information, ‘who saw,’ not merely talked about it” a legally incorrect statement that demonstrates either profound ignorance of criminal law or deliberate obstruction of justice.
The suspect, Luwooza Gozanga, remains at large with no investigation or arrest warrant issued.
Meanwhile, in Uganda, the Criminal Investigations Directorate’s 2025 Annual Crime Report recorded 61 ritual sacrifice murders in a single year, an average of more than one per week. Ritual Killing in Africa. We have registered about 15 cases in the past three years yet many largely remain unaccounted for. We need to take action. Examples of the Mayuge case which is still in court, Abdul who survived kidnap in Salaama here near Kampala. Elizabeth Kwagala case in 2015 and many more.
Legal and Human Rights Framework
The refusal by Ugandan police to register and investigate Ms. Nakiyemba’s case violates multiple legal instruments, including:
- The Constitution of Uganda, Article 21 — Right to equality and freedom from discrimination
- The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2020 (as amended in 2024) — Prohibition of discrimination and denial of protection
- The Penal Code Act — Criminalizing attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder
- The Police Act — Mandating police to receive, register, and investigate all criminal complaints
- The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Articles 10 and 16 — Right to life and freedom from exploitation, violence, and abuse
- The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Article 4 — Right to life and integrity
Demands and Calls to Action
NUDIPU & Albinism Umbrella calls upon the following duty bearers to take immediate action:
To the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Uganda:
- Immediately direct Nakatogo Police Station to register Ms. Sylvia Nakiyemba’s case and launch a full criminal investigation.
- Order the arrest of Luwooza Gozanga on charges of conspiracy to commit murder.
- Support Sylivia to earn a living as she cannot work in fear for her life- Business capital to start a small enterprise.
- Reopen and vigorously investigate the March 2023 murder of Margaret Nakabubi.
- Suspend and investigate the Officer in Charge of Nakatogo Police Station and the Kyotera District Police Commander for obstruction of justice and gross negligence.
- Issue a nationwide directive reaffirming that cases involving persons with albinism must never be dismissed as “family matters.”
- To the Uganda Human Rights Commission: . Launch an independent inquiry into police negligence in the Nakiyemba and Nakabubi cases.
- Issue an advisory on the obligations of law enforcement under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2024.
- To the Directorate of Public Prosecutions: Expedite review of all pending cases involving violence against persons with albinism and ensure prosecution where evidence exists.
- To the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development: Ensure immediate safe relocation of Ms. Nakiyemba to a secure location with access to legal aid and psychosocial support.
- Let us renew the Ugandan NAP – Uganda’s National Action Plan on Persons with Albinism, learning from the Zambian model- plan should not let it expire.
- To the International Community and Regional Bodies: . The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism should urgently monitor the situation in both Uganda and Malawi.
- Donor governments and international human rights organizations should condition security-sector funding on measurable improvements in the protection of persons with albinism.
Statement from Albinism Umbrella
“What is happening in Kyotera is not a family feud, it is a targeted campaign of violence against persons with albinism, enabled by police officers who have chosen complicity over duty. When a police station refuses to register an attempted murder case because it involves a person with albinism, it sends one message: that our lives do not matter. We refuse to accept that message. Sylvia Nakiyemba must be protected. Margaret Nakabubi must receive justice. And the police officers who have obstructed justice must be held accountable. We will not wait for another funeral.”
Albinism Umbrella
Media Contact: Albinism Umbrella Plot 667, Block 207, Kanyanya, Gayaza Road P.O. Box 3262, Kampala, Uganda Tel-0393208405
Last modified: June 2, 2026
