A Ugandan national residing in Boston, USA, is facing a charge of criminal defamation in the Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court following a private prosecution initiated over a controversial TikTok video. The video allegedly targeted President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and Capt. Mike Mukula.
The accused, identified as Suudiman Lukwago, an adult male Ugandan resident of Boston City, has been formally charged with Criminal Defamation, contrary to Section 179 of the Uganda Penal Code Act.
The private prosecution, filed by Okello Joshua, alleges that Lukwago used the social media platform TikTok to propagate highly inflammatory and damaging falsehoods.
Allegations of High-Stakes Defamation
According to the charge sheet, Criminal Case No. NAK-00-CR-CO-0574-OF 2025, Lukwago allegedly committed the offense “on different dates in the month of October 2025 at Boston City.”
The particulars of the offense state that Lukwago “wilfully and unlawfully acted with a reckless disregard for the truth by recording a video on Tik-Tok referring His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba and Capt. Mike Mukula as killers of the late Kenyan prominent politician Raila Amollo Odinga.”
The prosecution argues that this content was “defamatory in nature and lowered the image of the person of the president in the estimation of right thinking members of society.”
The inclusion of General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Land Forces, and Capt. Mike Mukula, a prominent National Resistance Movement (NRM) leader, underscores the high political stakes of the alleged defamation.
The Role of Social Media
The use of TikTok as the medium for the alleged offense also emphasizes the ongoing struggles authorities face in controlling online speech and misinformation originating outside national borders.
The charge sheet was formally signed by the private prosecutor, Okello Joshua, on October 28, 2025, and is now awaiting official endorsement by the Chief Magistrate or Magistrate Grade One at Nakawa.
While the court process is only beginning, legal experts anticipate that the case will trigger complex cross-border legal maneuvering as the judiciary attempts to enforce Ugandan defamation law against a US-based commentator.
Criminal Defamation in Uganda carries penalties that can include imprisonment, although the Supreme Court is currently reviewing the constitutionality of certain aspects of the defamation laws in light of freedom of speech concerns.
No immediate comment was available from Suudiman Lukwago in Boston regarding the charge.
