Photo: Eron Kiiza

The motivation for the 2026 grant is:

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Eron Kiiza, one of the founders of the law firm Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates in Uganda, has handled a number of high-profile legal cases. He has represented students at the Makerere university, devoted himself to the liberation of the HR-lawyer Nicholas Opiyo, served as legal counsel for the author Kakwnza Rukirabashaija and acted as public defender for the leader of the Opposition and previous presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, for whom Amnesty International issued an ”urgent action” in 2026. When Kiiza in January 2025, requested access to Besigye, he was charged with ”contempt of court” by a military tribunal and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, during which he was subjected to physical abuse. However he was relesed on bail after some months.

 

Kiiza leads the Environmental Shield Limited, a NGO movement focused on climate, environment and natural resources, and is a member of institutions with similiar aims, such as the Environmental Shield Law Society and East Africa Law Society. Among other efforts, Kiiza is working to rescue the Bugoma-forest in western Uganda, one of many tropical rainforests threatened  by modern colonialism through illegal felling and mining.

 

According to its statutes, the Anna Dahlbäck Memorial Foundation awards scholarships to individuals – primarily lawyers and legal professionals – ”who contribute to human rights in the spirit of Anna Dahlbäck ” and ”who, in doing so, have demonstrated significant commitment and courage”. The board has found thar Eron Kiiza more than fulfills these criteria.

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CAUSE OF LOVE​

Love is the ultimate cause
The supreme law
The best move
The marrow of life.

We are here
Eating
Even cheating.

We are here dancing
We do a lot of thinking
Lots of work needs doing.

All because of love.

Their love made us
A possibility
Their love
Made us a reality.

We sing and chant
We cry and be
We start and stop

All because of love
The most powerful force
The sole source of life
The definition of life
The meaning of it all.

 

Kiiza Eron · Tuesday, 29 July 2025

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WAR    
War defeats us all
The humanity of the culprit warriors
The dignity and lives of the victims.

The raped in Eastern Congo
The bombed in the Middle East
The divided in Cameroon
Are all of us.

The blown up in Malls and Cities
Before Satan assumes responsibility
Before propaganda filters attribution
Before prejudice gets in the way
There are real victims and culprits.

What is progress
What is the point of development
Of a tech race
If it is to wipe out
Our lives, towns, villages, parents, siblings,
neighbours, friends, culture and dreams?

War is death
Even to the living
Peace is life
Even to the dead.

Do not war
Is love one another
War is hate
Do not hate
Peace is love
Love, love, love.

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​Kiiza Eron · Monday, 21 July 2025