Agather Atuhaire is a Ugandan lawyer, human rights defender, and freelance journalist known for her fearless fight against corruption.
Born in 1988, Agather’s early life was marked by hardship, growing up with an alcoholic and violent father.
“It was a violent childhood. I would go to bed and sleep with one eye open, not sure I would wake up to find my mother alive, because whenever my father returned home drunk, he would beat her up. It bothered me so much that I started inciting my mother to report my father to the authorities, first to insure her against further abuse, but also to warrant him to give her a share of the family resources to take care of us,” she said as quoted by Defenddefenders.
These experiences instilled in her a strong sense of justice and a determination to advocate for the rights of the vulnerable.
She attended Alliance School Mbarara on a partial scholarship before joining Makerere University, where she studied journalism, graduating in 2011.
Four years later, the journalist returned to Makerere University to pursue a law degree, fulfilling her childhood ambition to become a lawyer.
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Agather’s journalism career began at Endigyito (WEBS FM), where she worked until March 2011.
She joined The Independent Publications as a business journalist before crossing over to political reporting.
She climbed the ranks to working with some of the leading newspapers, including Daily Monitor, Uganda Radio Network, and BBC.
Her background in both media and law has seen her emerge as one of East Africa’s most respected voices in investigative journalism and civic engagement.
She leads AGORA, a powerful and growing online human-rights movement.
Her courageous work has earned her several accolades among them the Human Rights Defender of the Month by DefendDefenders in June 2022.
She is also a recipient of the European Union Human Rights Defenders Award in 2023 and the 2024 International Women of Courage Award by the U.S. Department of State.
Agather was also named among the TIME100 Next emerging leaders in 2024.
