Edward Awebwa, a 24-year-old Ugandan TikToker, has been sentenced to six years in prison for insulting President Yoweri Museveni, his wife Janet Museveni, and their son Muhoozi Kainerugaba. 

Mr Awebwa was found guilty of hate speech and disseminating “misleading and malicious” information about the president’s family. 

Magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis, in delivering the sentence on Wednesday, said, “The accused deserves a punishment which will enable him to learn from his past so that next time he will respect the person of the president, the first lady, and the first son.” 

Mr Awebwa is not the first Ugandan to be jailed for “disrespecting” the first family. 

In 2022, the award-winning author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was imprisoned for two months on charges of “offensive communication” related to posts on Twitter about Mr Museveni and his son. 

Following his release, Mr Rukirabashaija sought asylum in Germany. 

Before Mr Rukirabashaija’s arrest, Ugandan activist and writer Stella Nyanzi was imprisoned for publishing a poem criticising Mr Museveni. 

President Museveni, who has held power since 1986, has overseen a regime noted for its suppression of opposition and dissent. 

In 2022, he enacted a communications law intended to combat hate speech, but the legislation has been widely criticised as repressive and inimical to free speech. 

The sentencing of Mr Awebwa amplifies the clampdown on free speech in Africa.

Recently, Shadrack Chaula, a 24-year-old Tanzanian artist, was either fined $2,000 (£1,600) or sentenced to two years in prison for burning a photograph of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.