Aloikin is a 26-year-old Ugandan human rights defender, student and single mother of a 2-year-old girl. Her activism was inspired by the living conditions in her home district of Palisa in Kampala, which has the highest proportion of illiteracy and school dropouts among girls and inadequate medical conditions in the country. Via her social media, she informs about these harsh circumstances and has mobilised tens of thousands of people for powerful protests for social justice, against human rights abuses, notably torture and systemic corruption.
Among those are the March to Parliament on 23 July 2024, an anti-corruption protest that saw hundreds arrested and some tortured in custody. Aloikin Praise co-organised the Nude Protest to Parliament against government corruption and mismanagement in the health care, education and sanitation sectors. This protest involved a group of young women, including Aloikin, who courageously stripped naked to protest against the criminal mismanagement of the Kiteezi waste site by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), a public entity responsible for the operations of the capital. The Executive director was later fired and charged for the death of over 30 Ugandans.
Kiteezi, a giant dump of almost 30 years, is the largest of several waste sites in and around the city of Kampala. Young people scour these sites in the search for salvageable items they can wash and resell. In August 2024, a landslide buried and killed 35 people under the garbage. Over the years, more than 200 people have lost their homes due to the site.
In a further March to the Supreme Court, she also mobilised hundreds young Ugandans to denounce the trial of civilians in the Court-martial, a tool which had been used to punish political dissidents. A long-awaited judgement finally outlawed the contested practice.
As a result of Aloikin’s activism, which has been entirely peaceful, she has been brutally arrested thrice and served prison time in 2024. Currently free, she is still battling three separate court charges. These tactics aimed at silencing her have only strengthened her resolve, and have motivated her to create the WeThePeople movement, which informs young Ugandans about their civic rights and non-violent resistance. Aloikin Prasie won the EU Human Rights Defenders’ Award in 2025, a distinction by the European Union in Uganda.
Uganda’s civic space remains restrictive as officials are accused of corruption and authorities crack down on protests and tighten their grip on rights organisations. Environmental activists continue to be targeted for opposing megaprojects, and LGBTI people still face legal discrimination, as only parts of the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality act were repealed.
