KAMPALA, Uganda — A Ugandan court has delivered a stinging rebuke to a prominent social media commentator whose allegations of corruption against the country’s deputy anti-graft chief spread widely on TikTok, ordering him to pay Shs100 million in damages and issue a public apology.
In a judgment that underscores growing judicial scrutiny of online speech and misinformation, the High Court in Kampala found that journalist and digital broadcaster Dean Lubowa Saava defamed Deputy Inspector General of Government Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe by repeatedly portraying her as a corrupt public official who had allegedly accepted bribes linked to a government road project.
Justice Joyce Kavuma, in a ruling delivered on June 24, said the accusations were false, malicious and damaging to the reputation of one of Uganda’s most senior anti-corruption officials.
“The plaintiff’s [Twinomugisha] evidence clearly shows that the statements published by the defendant [Lubowa] were defamatory in nature and intended at causing injury to the reputation of the plaintiff, the Deputy Inspector General of Government.”
The dispute stemmed from a series of videos published in July 2025 on TV10 Gano Mazima, Lubowa’s TikTok platform, which commands an audience of more than 300,000 followers.
In the videos, Lubowa alleged that Ms Twinomugisha had received Shs200 million in bribes connected to the Kaabong road project. He further accused her of soliciting money from engineers involved in the project and suggested she was personally benefiting from public resources she was supposed to protect.
The allegations struck at the heart of Twinomugisha’s public role. As Deputy Inspector General of Government, she is among the senior officials charged with investigating corruption and abuse of office.
Court records show that Lubowa also claimed that the Deputy IGG had dispatched an aide to collect money on her behalf and questioned her moral authority to participate in Uganda’s anti-corruption efforts.
Twinomugisha categorically denied the allegations.
She told the court she had never received money from engineers, had no involvement in the alleged transactions and had never even travelled to Kaabong District, where the road project was located.
Her account was corroborated by Ombudsman Affairs Director Kakooza Savio Ntensibe, whom Lubowa had publicly identified as her personal assistant.
Ntensibe rejected the claim, testifying that he was neither Twinomugisha’s aide nor involved in any effort to collect money on her behalf.
The court found no evidence to support the accusations.
Notably, Lubowa did not participate in the proceedings despite being served with court documents. He neither entered an appearance nor filed a defence, prompting the case to proceed ex parte.
Justice Kavuma said the journalist’s conduct was particularly troubling given that he had previously acknowledged, through a criminal plea bargain, that information he had published about the Deputy IGG was false.
“The defendant in making these claims directly and indirectly insinuated without show of proof that the Deputy Inspector General of Government is part and parcel of the corruption she ought to eliminate,” the judge stated.
The court also found that Lubowa continued publishing the allegations even after being warned by Twinomugisha to stop.
According to the judgment, the persistence of the publications demonstrated an intention to inflict reputational harm rather than engage in legitimate public interest reporting.
“The continued publishing of the said defamatory statements shows the desire and intent by the defendant to cause pain to the plaintiff,” Justice Kavuma ruled.
The ruling represents one of the most consequential defamation judgments involving a Ugandan TikTok personality in recent years, reflecting the increasing influence—and legal exposure—of content creators who use social media platforms as alternative news outlets.
While Twinomugisha had sought Shs300 million in exemplary damages, the court declined to grant the additional award, finding insufficient evidence that Lubowa had financially benefited from the controversial content.
Nevertheless, Justice Kavuma awarded Shs100 million in general damages, citing the gravity of the allegations, the substantial reach of the TikTok broadcasts and Lubowa’s refusal to retract the statements or defend them in court.
Beyond the monetary award, the court imposed sweeping restrictions on future publications.
A permanent injunction was issued barring Lubowa, his agents and associates from publishing further defamatory statements about the Deputy IGG.
The court also directed him to issue a public apology on the same TikTok platform where the allegations were originally disseminated, ensuring that the correction reaches the audience that consumed the defamatory content.
In addition, Lubowa was ordered to pay the costs of the suit as well as interest on the damages until the amount is settled in full.
For Twinomugisha, the ruling amounts to a judicial vindication after nearly a year of public accusations that threatened to undermine her standing as a leading figure in Uganda’s fight against corruption.
For Uganda’s growing class of social media broadcasters, meanwhile, the judgment serves as a stark reminder that the speed and reach of digital platforms do not exempt publishers from the legal consequences of false and defamatory claims.
Meanwhile, the IGG’s office recently warned over 60,000 government employees could lose their jobs for refusing to declare their wealth, as reported Here.
