Entebbe, Uganda: Elson Tumwine, a Makerere University finalist, has been sentenced to spend at least two months in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of offensive communication targeting President Yoweri Museveni and Speaker of Parliament Anita Among.
Tumwine, who had recently gone missing while on internship in Hoima, resurfaced before Grade One Magistrate Tibayeita Edgar Tusiime in Entebbe on Friday last week, where he admitted to sharing a TikTok video in May in which he made remarks deemed offensive under Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act.
State Prosecution, led by Mr Aheebwa Paul Byamukama, told court that in the viral TikTok video, Tumwine alleged Museveni had apologised to only one part of the country, accused him of past atrocities in the Teso region, and linked Rwandan soldiers to killings during the Mukura incident.
Mr Aheebwa stated that the video was intended to ridicule, demean, or incite hostility against both the President and the Speaker.
While passing sentence, Magistrate Tusiime noted Tumwine’s guilty plea and apology as mitigating factors for the more lenient two-month jail term.
Tumwine is now the sixth TikTok user to be sentenced in recent months over similar offences targeting the President, his family, or senior government officials.
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