Cartooning for Peace has issued a statement warning about the situation of this Ugandan cartoonist.
Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, a member of the Cartooning for Peace network, has received death threats after launching an anti-corruption campaign on X (formerly Twitter) under the slogan - #UgandaParliamentExhibition - calling Parliament to account.
According to the CfP statement, this is not the first time Spire has exposed dysfunction in his country through social media campaigns that have earned him threats. But this time, Spire's fears appear to have been escalated. He says parliament has asked the Uganda Communications Commission for access to his communications data.
"Our attention has been drawn to new threats against the life of our member, Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, circulating on Twitter among other media. We take these threats very seriously".
These are the first words of the statement of support issued on 20 March by Makerere University, where Spire teaches. It stresses that his anti-corruption advocacy as part of his academic work and as an intellectual is a matter of academic freedom, and calls on the authorities to protect him from any threat to his life and liberty.
It also refers to serious human rights violations in the country and denounces recent cases of enforced disappearances, assassinations and attempted assassinations.
Cartooning for Peace says it is very concerned about the fact that Jimmy Spire Ssentongo is under threat, calls for his safety to be guaranteed and warns that it will monitor his situation closely.
Threats in 2023
In May 2023, the cartoonist was already in trouble for his activism and claimed at the time that he feared for his life after receiving reports of threats against him.
The cartoonist, who contributes to the defence of Social Justice in his country, launched several participatory campaigns on social networks aimed at highlighting dysfunctions in the areas of road infrastructure(#kampalaPotholeExhibition), health(#UgandaHealthExhibition), and security(#UgandaSecurityExhibition).
The campaigns, to which the cartoonist contributed cartoons, went viral and were said to be the reason for the threats. In the same message denouncing him, he also announced that he was withdrawing from the campaigns.
Humour in trouble, a collection of cases
Cases of cartoonists who have had problems of some importance because of their cartoons or satirical illustrations. There are also some stories of other people who, without being cartoonists, have got into trouble for sharing them.
