‘Greedy Barbarian’ Novelist Paraded In Court For Mocking Museveni

Emerging details indicate that a Ugandan Novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was on Friday presented before Buganda Road court virtually to answer charges of mocking peace of President Yoweri Museveni.

Taarifa has learned that Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Douglas Singiza has remanded author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija till Tuesday next week when he will be able to rule on whether to grant him bail.

Kakwenza, now held on remand at Kitalya prison, appeared in court via video link to apply for bail.

His lawyer Eron Kiiza indicated that the accused had been tortured while in custody and needed to be released on bail so he could access proper medical treatment.

Kiiza also added that the case of computer misuse, for which he is accused, is available.

Award-winning Ugandan novelist Rukirabashaija has been charged with two counts of “offensive communication” after making unflattering remarks about the president and his son on Twitter.

The prosecution alleged that he had “used his Twitter handle to disturb the peace” of President Yoweri Museveni and his son Lt-Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Mr Rukirabashaija pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Rukirabashaija had also tweeted that “the Musevenis have imposed enormous suffering on this country”. Last year, he won the Pen Pinter Prize for an international writer of courage.

Kakwenza Rukirabashaija is best known for The Greedy Barbarian, a satirical novel which describes high-level corruption in a fictional country, and Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous, an account of the torture he was subjected to while in detention in 2020.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) and other rights bodies have piled pressure on the Kampala government demanding the unconditional release of Ugandan novelist.

“Uganda: I’m alarmed by reports of alleged torture and incommunicado detention of author [Rukirabashaija Kakwenza]. He remains in detention without trial, despite a court order for his unconditional release. I urge Ugandan authorities to uphold rule of law and due process,” twitted Mr Eamon Gilmore, the EU special representative for human rights.