Boot camp-style videos flooding social media have triggered an intense national uproar over how the Ugandan government treats its most vulnerable citizens. Videos posted to TikTok by country's State House officials show more than 1 000  Ugandan nationals, recently evacuated from South Africa, undergoing intense physical combat training, marching drills, and regimented military-style exercises. Upon arrival in Kampala, the citizens, many of whom carried Uber Eats bags and lost entire businesses, were immediately routed to the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi for a mandatory 15-day 'rehabilitation and patriotism' encampment. While President Yoweri Museveni recently presided over their graduation ceremony, offering a $14 500 wealth creation package, critics have slammed the footage as a dystopian display of political indoctrination and screening. Worse still, security leaks suggest the administration is targeting these returnees over suspicions that they are young opposition supporters who pose an urban unrest risk if left unsupervised in Kampala. To help us unpack the political and human rights implications of these drills, Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Public Policy Analyst At Centre For Policy Analysis In Uganda, Peace Merisha Akello