A 24 year old Ugandan TikToker has been sentenced to jail for 6 years for hurling insults at President Yoweri Museveni and his family.
Edward Awebwa is said to have committed the crime between February and March 2024, using his account under the name Save Media Uganda.
According to the prosecution, the accused person used the social media platform to demean the president, his wife and their son General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces.
Magistrate Stella Maris-Amabilis, while delivering her ruling, said that the first family should be respected.
She added that the court is determined to being such offenses to an end.
“The accused is pleading for mercy but he does not look remorseful at all for his acts, he is a person who was aware of what he was doing and court had opportunity to even see the video, the language that was being used was really vulgar. This court is of the opinion that the accused deserves a punishment which will enable him learn from his past so that next time he will respect the person of the president, the first lady and first son” she said.
Ms Amabilis added: “Taking into account the five days he has already spent in remand, the court sentences the accused as follows: six years imprisonment for each of the four counts, with the sentences to run concurrently at Kigo Upper Prison.”
