Ugandans have raised UGX 24 million to save renowned cartoonist and academician Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo meet the UGX 30 million court order for contempt of court, and avoid three months prison.
Over the weekend, the public launched the fundraising drive following Ssentongo’s legal dispute with Kampala International University (KIU), attracting contributions and support from activists, journalists, politicians and members of the public.
The revelation was made by human rights lawyer and activist Agather Atuhaire, who was one of the brains behind the fundraising drive alongside human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza.
“We now stand at UGX 24,000,000 for @SpireJim. So Ugandans have contributed 24M in the last 24 hours!! This is love. This is solidarity. This is defiance. This is appreciation… and so much more” she posted on her X on Sunday evening.
In a ruling delivered on June 18th, the High Court Civil Division Registrar Kintu Simon Zirintusa, ordered Ssentongo to pay a UGX 10 million fine within 14 days or serve three months in civil prison, after court found him guilty of contempt of court.
He was also ordered to pay the University UGX 20 million in punitive and exemplary damages, in addition to legal costs.
The contempt case stemmed from an earlier court order barring Ssentongo from publishing or circulating information that the court considered damaging to KIU’s reputation.
Ssentongo, led a social media campaign after publicly raising money concerns he said KIU had refused to refund or transfer money, which belonged to his late brother’s children.
Ssentongo said the two had paid the fees but later changed universities before starting their studies at KIU.
According to him, university officials subsequently agreed to transfer the money to two other students at the institution, but the transfer was never completed.
In a post on his X account, Ssentongo expressed deep gratitude for the love he has received from the general public.
“The love I’ve received since yesterday, even from total strangers, is hard to explain!! I haven’t yet found the right words to comment about it” he posted.
Ssentogo further added, “I read from @kiizaeron that the launch was to be on Monday, but Love couldn’t wait to speak! What more wealth than living in people’s hearts! Thank you all, friends indeed. I can’t finish the list”.
The campaign now needs another UGX 6 million to reach its UGX 30 million target.
