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Court charges, remands Kakwenza to Kitalya Prison
Novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Kakwenza, who won the PEN Pinter Prize International Writer of Courage award last year, was arrested on December 28, 2021, for allegedly making abusive, derogatory, and belittling tweets against President Museveni and his son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who is also the UPDF commander land forces.
Buganda Road Magistrate’s Court has charged and remanded satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who was arrested in December last year, to Kitalya Prison until January 21 when he will return to court for further mention of the charges.
Kakwenza, who won the PEN Pinter Prize International Writer of Courage award last year, was arrested on December 28, 2021, for allegedly making abusive, derogatory, and belittling tweets against President Museveni and his son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who is also the UPDF commander land forces.
He had not been arraigned in any court despite various calls by human rights defenders to either produce and charge him before a court of law or release him unconditionally.
On Tuesday, the court issued an order for the police and other security agencies to produce Kakwenza in court; the police this time heed the order and produced him to Buganda Road Magistrate’s Court at around 9am.
Court presided over by magistrate Douglas Singiza read to Kakwenza two counts of offensive communication, C/S 25 of the computer misuse act 2011 to which he pleaded “not guilty” before being remanded to Kitalya Prison.
The prosecution contends that Kakwenza on December 24, 2021, in the Kampala District, willfully and repeatedly used his Twitter handle @KakwenzaRukira to disturb the peace of His Excellency the President of Uganda, Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, with no purpose of legitimate communication.
The prosecution further contends that Kakwenza between December 26 and 28, in the Kampala District willfully and repeatedly used his Twitter handle @KakwenzaRukira to disturb the peace of Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, with no purpose of legitimate communication.
Repeated arrests
The author won acclaim for his 2020 satirical novel, "The Greedy Barbarian", which describes high-level corruption in a fictional country.
He was awarded the 2021 PEN Pinter Prize for an International Writer of Courage, which is presented annually to a writer who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs.
Rukirabashaija has been repeatedly arrested since "The Greedy Barbarian" was published. He has said he was tortured while being interrogated by military intelligence about his work.
At the time, he was accused of breaching Covid-19 social distancing rules, inciting violence, and promoting sectarianism.
He described his time in detention as "inhumane and degrading" in his most recent book "Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous."
