Charges against Edward Awebwa included hate speech and disseminating “misleading and malicious” information about President Yoweri Museveni, First Lady Janet Museveni, and the military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
The court also heard that Awebwa had spread false information, claiming that President Museveni would raise taxes.
He’d entered a guilty plea and begged for pardon.
Despite his pleas for mercy, the presiding magistrate declared that the comments used in the video were “really vulgar” and that he did not appear regretful for his actions.
Judge Stella Maris Amabilis declared, “The accused deserves a punishment that will enable him to learn from his past so that he will respect the person of the president, the first lady, and the first son the next time.”
All four of the counts against him carry a concurrent penalty of six years each.
Human rights organizations frequently accuse Ugandan officials of violating their freedom of speech and human rights.
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, a celebrated Ugandan writer, faced two counts of “offensive communication” in 2022 for making disparaging statements about the president and his son on Twitter.
After a month in prison, where he claimed to have been tortured, he left the nation and escaped to Germany.
