MAKERERE UNIVERSITY STUDENT SENTENCED OVER OFFENSIVE REMARKS ABOUT UGANDAN PRESIDENT AND PARLIAMENT SPEAKER

A sixth-year student at Makerere University, Elson Tumwine, has been sentenced to two months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of offensive communication related to comments he made about President Yoweri Museveni and Speaker of Parliament Anita Among.

Tumwine, who had gone missing while on internship in Hoima, reappeared last week and was arraigned before Grade One Magistrate Tibayeta Edgar Tusiime at the Entebbe Magistrate Court.

According to the prosecution, Tumwine shared a video in May 2025 containing statements deemed offensive under Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act. In the footage, he allegedly claimed that President Museveni apologized exclusively to the Baganda community, while accusing him of past atrocities committed in the Teso region, including the burning of a train and the dumping of bodies in a swamp near Soroti University. The video also alleged involvement of Rwandan soldiers.

The prosecution, led by Ahebwa Byaruhanga Paul, argued that the video was intended to ridicule and incite hostility against both the president and the speaker of parliament.

While delivering the sentence, Magistrate Tibayeta acknowledged that Tumwine’s admission of guilt and plea for forgiveness were mitigating factors considered in the court’s decision.

Tumwine becomes the sixth TikTok user in Uganda to be convicted of offensive communication charges targeting senior government officials.