Uganda Court jails TikToker over video of defaming the president

A third-year student of Makerere University, Uganda, Elson Tumwine, has been jailed over a TikTok video criticising President Yoweri Museveni.

Mr Tumwine was jailed for two months on Tuesday after he admitted to posting the video and sought forgiveness from the court.

Prosecutors said the video was intended to demean, ridicule, and incite hostility.

Mr Tumwine was said to have doctored a clip by the parliamentary speaker Anita Among, responding to a general apology Mr Museveni issued in May to the Baganda people.

The student’s video, according to prosecutors, accused the president of not apologising for other things during his time in power.

Mr Tumwine’s sentencing came months after he went missing while working as an agricultural intern in Hoima, western Uganda.

His eventual sentencing raised concerns among activists around fundamental human rights, especially freedom of speech, as the country prepares for elections next year.

Last year, a Ugandan court jailed Edward Awebwa for six years for spreading misleading and malicious information against Mr Museveni’s first family.

Another TikToker, Emmanuel Nabugodi, was sentenced for 32 months in prison after creating a video said to insult the president.