A court in southern Uganda has convicted two men for spreading false information about HIV/AIDS after selling herbal remedies they claimed could cure the disease.
The pair, identified as Festo Katanye Mugabe, 37, from Rwanda, and Nathan Karamuzi Kadogo, 28, a resident of Kyotera District, appeared before a magistrate’s court in Masaka on Tuesday.
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Prosecutors said the men sold the herbal products at a hotel in the town on 30 April, charging between 150,000 and 300,000 Ugandan shillings to people living with HIV. They allegedly told clients the medicine could cure the virus.
The court heard that suspicions were raised by one of the buyers, who alerted police, leading to the arrest of the two men.
They were charged under Uganda’s HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act for spreading misleading information and pleaded guilty to the offence.
In sentencing, Magistrate Abdallah Kayiza said the court had taken into account both the seriousness of the offence and the fact that the men were first-time offenders who admitted the charges.
He handed each of them a three-year prison term or the option of paying a fine of 300,000 Ugandan shillings.
The court also directed that the herbal products be handed over to the authorities for testing and disposal if found to be unsafe.
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