Journalist Richard Baguma has raised concerns over public safety, legislative priorities and criminal justice practices, describing them as some of the most consequential governance issues confronting Uganda in 2025.
Speaking during NBS Media Roundtable on Friday, Baguma singled out Parliament’s decision to discard the Alcohol Control Bill, 2023 as a defining political story of the year.
“In 2025, the Parliament totally threw out the Bill on alcohol. Not even one clause was considered. For me, that was an interesting story of 2025,” Baguma said.
The Alcohol Control Bill was a Private Member’s Bill first introduced in November 2023 by Tororo District Woman Representative Sarah Opendi.
The proposed law sought to regulate the purchase, sale and consumption of alcohol, including restrictions on hours of sale and licensed premises.
Parliament rejected the processing of the Bill following the presentation of a joint report by the Committees of Trade and Health.
The report was presented by Sylvia Nayebare during a plenary sitting chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.
Baguma linked the Bill’s rejection to broader public safety concerns, particularly persistent road carnage, which he said continues to claim lives across the country.
“I can’t understand the insensitivity to the road carnage in Uganda. Every day there is a story about death on the roads,” he said.
He argued that failure to legislate on alcohol control reflects a wider reluctance to confront preventable causes of road fatalities and other public health risks.
Baguma also expressed alarm over what he described as an emerging pattern in detention practices, warning that the issue extends beyond politically sensitive cases.
“The prosecution has developed some kind of pattern of extending the period of detention of people, and it’s not just for politics. It’s very important that all of us get concerned,” Baguma said.
He cautioned that prolonged detention without timely resolution of cases undermines confidence in the justice system and raises broader questions about the protection of constitutional rights.
