Can a culture of rule of law survive in the shadow of impunity?

November 21, 2025 in Editorial, Opinion by Editor

Uganda’s struggle to entrench the rule of law persists amid a widening culture of impunity. Six decades after the 1966 constitutional crisis, unchecked privilege by armed actors, elites, and power brokers continues to distort governance, weaken institutions and erode public trust.

Can a culture of rule of law truly take root in a society where the powerful routinely operate above it? That question remains unresolved in Uganda, six decades after the 1966 constitutional rupture, when military force displaced constitutional order and set a precedent that has lingered ever since. That moment reshaped the relationship between state power, public authority and the everyday citizen, embedding a tension that continues to define Uganda’s political culture.

Today, impunity is no longer the exclusive domain of the armed forces—though they remain among its most visible practitioners. It has widened into a multi-layered ecosystem of privilege inhabited by soldiers, politicians, wealthy businessmen and even dubious foreign actors who navigate public spaces with casual disregard for legal norms. Kampala’s daily traffic theatre tells the story plainly: heavily tinted vehicles slicing against traffic, SUVs with no number plates barreling down pedestrian walkways, and armed escorts converting public roads into personal thoroughfares. These are not isolated displays of misconduct; they are public performances of untouchability.

Over time, such transgressions have hardened into a broader culture of entitlement. When land is grabbed, when vulnerable communities are evicted without due process, when repression becomes routine and increasingly normalised, these acts draw legitimacy from the everyday demonstrations of impunity. The underlying message is unmistakable: laws restrain the powerless, not the powerful.

This environment breeds a caste-like hierarchy in which privilege is not merely possessed but flaunted. Impunity becomes aspirational. Those lacking formal authority seek proximity to it—hoping for immunity from the constraints that govern ordinary life. The result is a self-reinforcing cycle: impunity displayed at the top cascades downward, encouraging more people to bend rules, cut corners, undermine institutions and pursue advantage outside lawful channels.

The cumulative effect is deeply corrosive. A nation preoccupied with the theatrics of power inevitably loses sight of the basic needs that shape everyday life. When elites are insulated from broken roads, dysfunctional health systems, failing schools and decaying infrastructure—because they can circumvent public services or purchase private alternatives—national priorities become distorted. The lived reality of the majority becomes invisible to those empowered to address it.

Meanwhile, policy reforms and governance interventions routinely stall because they threaten entrenched interests that benefit from the existing order. Oversight institutions remain constrained, underfunded or politically subordinated. Citizens, observing a system that shields its most powerful actors from scrutiny, turn to informal networks, patronage or quiet resignation.

Ultimately, the rule of law is not simply a legal doctrine but a shared cultural expectation that no individual stands above the norms that safeguard society. It demands fairness, restraint and a willingness—especially by those in authority—to submit to the same standards they prescribe for others. Uganda’s challenge, sixty years after the foundational breach of 1966, is not only institutional but cultural: rebuilding a social contract grounded in equality, accountability and mutual respect.

Unless that culture is deliberately reclaimed and defended, the promise of rule of law will remain elusive—forever overshadowed by the daily spectacle of privilege and impunity.