A Ugandan court has detained two individuals at Kigo prison for allegedly insulting President Yoweri Museveni, First Lady Janet Museveni and the president’s son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba on TikTok. The accused, 21-year-old David Ssengozi and 28-year-old Isaiah Ssekagiri, are due back in court today (18 November).
They are charged with hate speech and spreading malicious information against the first family and against musicians affiliated with the governing National Resistance Movement (NRM). The pair have strongly denied the charges. Prosecutors say they posted content on TikTok intended to “ridicule, degrade and demean” the first family.
Although it remains unclear which specific posts led to their arrests, a video shared in April on the TikTok account @luckychoice70 titled My First Enemies criticised the first family using sexually explicit language.
In July, 24-year-old Edward Awebwa was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting the president and the first family in a TikTok video. The court said that Awebwa had shared abusive content and had wrongly claimed that taxes would be hiked under President Museveni. He pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness.
In 2022, award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija faced charges of ‘offensive communication’ after making derogatory comments about the president and his son on Twitter. He fled the country to Germany after spending a month in jail, where, he said, he had been tortured.
In a separate case, activist and writer Stella Nyanzi, currently in exile, was imprisoned for publishing a critical poem about President Museveni.
Rights groups have consistently condemned the Ugandan government for human-rights violations and a lack of freedom of expression.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/19/prison-irrepressible-stella-nyanzi-uganda-poet