On 5th June 2026, Sydney Gongodyo Gyabi, a young rugby player and proud member of the Stanbic Black Pirates RFC, was brutally murdered by a mob in an act of extra-judicial violence that has shaken the sports fraternity and the entire nation of Uganda.

Sydney was not just a rugby player. He was a son, a brother, a father, a teammate and a young man with a promising future ahead of him. He had dreams of one day captaining his club and the national team at the highest level. All of that was stolen from him in a senseless, cowardly attack carried out with complete impunity.

We refuse to call what happened to Sydney "mob justice" because to call it justice is to justify it. There is no justice in the taking of a human life by a mob. Life is sacred. No individual, no group, no crowd has the legal or moral authority to act as judge, jury and executioner. What was done to Sydney Gongodyo Gyabi was not justice. It was murder. It was terrorism. And it must be treated as such.

His death has left an indelible mark of pain on his immediate family and on everyone who knew and loved him. The grief is immeasurable. But grief alone is not enough. We demand accountability.

This petition is not only about Sydney Gongodyo. It is about every Ugandan who has ever suffered at the hands of a mob. It is about every family that has buried a loved one taken by extra-judicial violence. It is about every one of us who is now a potential victim, because mobs do not have criteria. They do not select their victims by tribe, profession, age or status. It can happen to any of us, at any time.

Extra-judicial killings of this nature do not just take lives. They take us back as a country to some of the darkest chapters in our history. A Uganda that tolerates mob murder is a Uganda where no citizen is safe. We cannot allow that to be the Uganda we hand to the next generation.

WHAT WE ARE DEMANDING

We, the undersigned, hereby call upon the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Uganda Police Force, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Sports, the National Council of Sports Uganda and the entire Government of Uganda to:

1. Immediately identify, arrest and charge all individuals responsible for the murder of Sydney Gongodyo Gyabi.
2. Ensure that the perpetrators are tried in an open, public mobile court, in the same manner as was done in the case of the children who were murdered, so that the proceedings are transparent and accessible to all Ugandans.
3. Ensure that the case is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, with no plea bargains, no delays and no interference.
4. Use this case as a firm and public example that acts of mob violence and extra-judicial killing will not be tolerated in Uganda under any circumstances.
5. Commit to a broader national campaign against mob violence, so that Sydney's death marks the beginning of the end of this culture of impunity and not just another tragedy that fades from public memory.
6. We call upon the Uganda Rugby Union, the National Council of Sports, the Ministry of Education and Sports and every sports body in Uganda to stand up and speak with one voice. This was not just an attack on Sydney as an individual. It was an attack on rugby. It was an attack on sport. It was an attack on every athlete in this country who dares to dream.

Sport builds character, community and national pride. When one of our own is cut down in such a manner, we are all diminished. The sports fraternity must demand justice loudly, clearly and without apology.

SIGN THIS PETITION

If you believe that life is sacred, that justice must prevail and that the murderers of Sydney Gongodyo Gyabi must face the full force of the law in a public court for all Ugandans to witness, add your name below.

Justice for Sydney Gongodyo Gyabi. Justice for every Ugandan who has suffered mob violence. Justice for all of us.