Aloikin Praise Opoloje, a third year law student at Makerere University, has won the 2024 Civil Liberties Award.
The award, presented to her during the 2024 Human Rights Convention, was in recognition of her outstanding and courageous contribution to civil liberties in Uganda.
The name Aloikin Praise gained popularity on the internet during the 2024 March to parliament protests led by Uganda’s Gen Z.
At first, what made Aloikin stand out from other protesters were the kind of highly profiled individuals that stood surety for her when she was first arraigned before court over charges of turning self into a public nuisance. Renown law don Prof. Sylvia Tamale and Dr. Busingye Kabumba stood in as her sureties during her successful bail application.
Such sureties gave an assurance that Aloikin Praise was poised to return to the streets to further her cause of action.
A few weeks after being released from Luzira Prison, Aloikin Praise attracted public attention when she led a group of girls in a nude protest demanding the resignation of speaker of parliament Anita Among.
Praise
Makerere University’s Dr. Busingye Kabumba said the award was a ‘most deserved honour’.
Dr. Jimmy Spire said Aloikin’s ‘resolve to fight for human rights and justice at such a young age is inspirational’.
The Civil Liberty Award is a non-monetary recognition of extraordinary efforts in service of human rights in the East African region. Initiated by Chapter Four Uganda, the award is envisioned as a major calendar event that recognizes the fragile environment for human rights and fate of human rights defenders in Uganda and the rest of the East Africa, a region long deviled by some of the worst atrocities recorded
