Based on a letter sent to the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda to Canada, This article has been edited and prepared for publication here by HRHF/Maureen Mboizi.
Nganda, an investigative journalist and political editor with The Weekly Observer, has been arrested and interrogated at least three times this month by detectives with Kampala’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Nganda has been accused by the CID of mobilizing Buganda, the biggest ethnic group critical of the current government. The CID also claims that Nganda has criticized President Yoweri Museveni in different talk shows for the high rates of human rights violations during his rule. The last time Nganda was questioned he was ordered to report back on November 6, 2008. If convicted, Nganda could face a five-year jail sentence for promoting sectarianism and up to three years in prison for incitement to violence.
In June 2006, Nganda was also accused of the same charges for writing an article that criticized government persecution of opposition leader Kizza Besigye. The trial was halted as the offence is being challenged in the Constitutional Court of Uganda, but Nganda was asked to keep reporting to court frequently.
CJFE seeks intervention from the High Commissioner
CJFE asks the High Commissioner, to convey their concerns to the Ugandan government. CJFE calls for the charges against journalist Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda to be dropped and the harassment against him to end. CJFE calls on the Canadian government to ensure that the right to free expression is protected and that journalists are able to report in Uganda without fear of reprisal.
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect press freedom and freedom of expression around the world.
