KAMPALA – A grade one Magistrate at Buganda Road court has convicted the Makerere University Researcher Dr Stella Nyanzi of a cyber harassment offence in which she insulted the person of President Museveni and his late mother Esteri Kokundeka .
The trial Magistrate Ms Gladys Kamasanyu while convicting Nyanzi noted that the message she posted on her official facebook account was obscene and indecent as it was against the standards of a decent African community.
“No sensible person would make sense out of such a uncouth message, openly discuss it or no parent can discuss it with his/her child. Dr Nyanzi’s post corrupts the minds of a young generation given the fact that access to Facebook has no age –limit,” Ms Kamasanyu ruled.
Ms Kamasanyu noted that it would only be an immoral person like Nyanzi to openly insult the privacy of a dead woman.
The contentious post which was also displayed on a large screen during trial was posted by Dr Stella Nyanzi on the September 16, 2018 on her official face book page; a day after president Museveni celebrated his birthday.
According to the Magistrate, the suggestions made in Nyanzi’s post -that Museveni would have been suffocated to death by his cursed mother’s birth canal; satisfy all the ingredients of a cyber harassment offense; hence finding her guilty.
The magistrate has however acquitted Nyanzi on the second offence of offensive communication on grounds that even though she willingly posted the message, there are no evidence to prove that she repeatedly posted the message to prove the ingredients of this offence.
The magistrate ruled that prosecution failed to bring the President or any single witness in court to testify to the effect that he was offended by Dr Stella Nyanzi’s post.
During mitigation prosecution led by Ms Janet Kitimbo has asked the magistrate to consider that Nyanzi is a first offender, has been on remand since November last year yet she has to balance it with the fact that the offence of cyber harassment for which she has been convicted for is rampant these days as people choose to settle scores on social media.
Kitimbo has now asked for a custodial sentence instead of a Shs1.4 million s court fine so that Nyanzi acts as an example to other would be offenders.
Kitimbo backed her request with the fact that has been found guilty of insulting the fountain of honour and his dearest dead mother on top remaining unremorseful throughout the trial .
However in reply Nyanzi while in the dock mocked the magistrate that she would not cry out to be set free as a mother because he children celebrate her acts of protest and are being cared of Ugandans who believe in her.
“I will sacrifice my motherhood, my children deserve a mother who is better and they celebrate me for not being silent to this dictatorship,” Nyanzi yelled at the magistrate.
Adding that: “That is what serious mothers should be doing because they are tired o dictatorship.”
Nyanzi who kept moving from side to side with her bottle of water also told the trial magistrate that she was so disappointed that she was not found guilty of offending President Museveni who has offended them for 35years.
The magistrate will pass her sentence tomorrow at 3pm.
