Saudi blogger Fuad alFarhan has finally been released after spending 137 days in jail for simply speaking his mind politely and eloquently. Meanwhile, the Saudi government has no problem whatsoever allowing the shouts and rants of many preachers of death.
Lovely!
And now for the bad news, Andrew Mwenda, a fearless and inspiring Ugandan journalist I have great respect for, was jailed recently by the Ugandan government. He’s now out on bond but is still facing considerable danger. Please spread the word!
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I was so saddened to hear of Adnrew’s harassment and imprisonment. He is a great man and deserves far better than the corrupt authorities are giving him.
I hope they leave him alone.
As someone who’s closely familiar with what’s going on in Uganda, I can tell you that Andrew Mwenda is simply a liar. He would do anything to assault the President, his family, his cabinet, simply for the sake of assaulting them with absolutely no facts behind his claims, so this case of alleged “persecution” of the journalist simply doesn’t click. The man is a liar and he’s been detained and questioned for lying. There is nothing more to this story. Next time he lies, I hope they detain and throw him in jail again, this time for a longer term.
VadimM, any links on that please? What did he do to make you accuse him of being a liar?
Drima, how about almost all of his articles in the past couple of years, where he attacks anything and anyone related to the government in Uganda in general, and the President in particular. To Mwenda it is all personal, never substantial.
This guy is giving free journalism a bad name. I hope the fact that he’s working for the newspaper “The Monitor” (belongs to the opposition, endorses opposition candidates in Parliament and Presidential elections) for years and was doing so undisturbed until constructive criticism turned into nasty personal attacks means something.
Just an example: when John Garang (the leader of SPLA) a personal friend of Ugandan president Museveni was killed in the helicopter crash when returning from Uganda to Juba, Andrew Mwenda, during his radio show suggested that Museveni plotted to kill Garang by putting him into junk helicopter. And that BEFORE any investigation into the heli crash was even launched. I think you, Drima, know that in that very crash some top Ugandan officers got killed as well, since the heli crew included top UPDF pilots and the heli itself was Presidential. And I don’t even want to mention how Mwenda endlessly called the President of Uganda “coward”, “villager” and attacked his family members in the same way.
Just because you oppose the government or a certain official, does not mean you can go that law and verbally abuse the person. As far as I know, such abuse is a criminal offense in many Western-style countries.
And by the way, if you go to this newspaper’s website (http://www.monitor.co.ug you will discover that it is full of criticism as it should be.
Sorry for a number of typos in my previous comment, was in a hurry
Drima, just as was mentioning Garang’s death in my comments, there is report of a plane crash that kills the Dominic Dim and another official. What a cruel coincidence…
I hope Andrew Mwenda doesn’t blame Museveni for that.
VadimM, I wasn’t aware of that. This is the first time, that I hear the “other side” of the story. As anyone should be, I’m open to both sides so I’ll check the link out.
Thanks for following up with a long reply.
Sure…:)…I gotta admit though, I’m a bit over-sensitive when it comes to Uganda:).
But yes, to cut to the point, Mwenda went too far. I think that saying something like “the president’s days will be numbered if he goes on a collision course with me” on the radio can hardly be called “criticism”.
Mwenda cynically uses the almost automatic support of free journalists/bloggers that is given to the opposition. That is way wrong, and mostly unethical on his part.
Andrew Mwenda speaks the truth about the institutions and forces that keeps Africa from flourishing.
Get up! Stand up! Stand up for your right! Don’t give up the fight!
“Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”
Robert F. Kennedy
Leave a Comment