Jailing of Stella Nyanzi not only an Affront but a Tragedy in Uganda's Political Process
Dr. Stella Nyanzi, a
prolific Ugandan scholar and political activist, indeed one of Uganda’s few
female public intellectuals was jailed for 18 months on flimsy charges related
to weird things like misuse of social media and use of offensive language that
injured the person of Kaguta Yoweri Museveni etc. Societies that jail their
intellectuals have known problems. Nyanzi has used vulgarity and nudity as
tools of protest against oppression; she’s a freedom fighter fighting for a
more equal and better Ugandan society. She has been vocal on pertinent issues
ranging from demanding for government supply of sanitary towels for girls in
schools to speaking against state sanctioned murders and enforced
disappearances in Uganda. So sad that Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu who herself
lives in the precarity that comes with being a woman in Uganda, agreed with her
own tormentor (Museveni) and found a person (Dr. Stella) truly committed to
fighting for her (Kamasanyu’s) own emancipation guilty of such dubious crimes
Jailing of Stella Nyanzi not only an Affront but a Tragedy in Uganda's Political Process
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
August 06, 2019
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