A university finalist in Uganda has been sentenced to two months in prison after admitting to posting a video deemed offensive towards President Yoweri Museveni and Speaker of Parliament Anita Among.
Elson Tumwine, a student at Makerere University who had recently gone missing while on internship in Hoima, appeared before Entebbe Grade One Magistrate Tibayeita Edgar Tusiime on Friday. He pleaded guilty to a charge of offensive communication under the Computer Misuse Act, following a viral TikTok video he posted in May.
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In the video, Tumwine criticised President Museveni’s public apology to the Baganda community and accused him of past atrocities in other regions of the country. He also made references to events in the Teso sub-region involving alleged violence linked to Museveni’s forces during past conflicts.
Prosecutor Ahebwa Byaruhanga Paul told the court that the video was intended to ridicule, insult, and provoke public hostility towards the President and the Speaker.
While delivering the ruling, the magistrate acknowledged Tumwine’s guilty plea and his expression of remorse, noting these as mitigating factors in reducing the sentence to two months in prison.
Tumwine is now the sixth Ugandan TikTok user to be convicted on similar charges related to online content targeting senior government officials, including the President and his family. The trend has raised concerns over freedom of expression and the application of Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act in digital spaces.
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