(Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
I am soaked in sadness watching people attacking human rights and social justice defenders Jimmy Ssentongo, an academic, author and cartoonist known as Spire, and Agather Atuhaire, a lawyer and journalist. They are at the front line and in headlines amplifying the voices of the oppressed and marginalised in society.
In Uganda, most of our professionals and elites have, out of fear, resigned to comfort and silence, but a few have demonstrated boldness and courage.
Despite most elites opting to be fortune hunters, regime praise singer and apologists, the other brave ones include Godwin Toko, Yusuf Serunkuma, Gawaya Tegulle, Sarah Bireete, Godber Tumushabe and Zawedde Priscilla.
Spire and Atuhaire are not partisan opposition figures or representatives of any political party with a duty to hold the government accountable. But the dynamic duo fearlessly defend human rights, the right to dissent, freedom of expression and better standards of living. They advocate for social justice and holding leaders accountable by using available means in a nation with shrinking civic spaces.
The on-going attacks on Spire, Toko and Atuhaire under the disguise of asking for accountability from the Agora Centre for Research is a scheme intended to demotivate them from genuine causes of advancing for a better, just and equitable society.
On many occasions Spire, through his X space and cartoons, has stood out as the leading influencer in Uganda shaping national policies, politics and social uplifting matters.
It’s not easy to question the government despite our constitutional right to dissent and freedom of expression.
Unfortunately, once sighted or thought to align with dissent you stand to be crushed financially, denied opportunities or denounced.
I have tasted the consequences of not being on the side of the regime. For example, an NGO denied me a job after probation because of my articles in daily newspapers addressing concerns about democracy in Uganda.
In countries seasoned with totalitarianism, autocracy and dictatorships, speaking truth to power is coded as treasonous and many have ended up in torture chambers, under unlaw full arrests, in prison and in exile.
It’s painful that for all the risks activists have taken, they are stabbed in the back by the very people whose rights and freedom they are defending.
Imagine Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, a professor at Makerere University, giving up his comfort to promote social justice and good governance using his artistic talent with satire to drive public discourse and hold government accountable, being ill-treated with prejudice, attempts to blackmail him and mudslinging.
In one of his recent posts on X, Spire dishearteningly shared a quote from Benjamin Burombo, a trade unionist and African nationalist in then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe): “Each time I want to fight for African rights, I use only one hand because the other hand is busy trying to keep away Africans who fighting me”
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, aka Bobi Wine, the leader of the National Unity Platform and challenger to Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, and Kasmuel McOure, a leader of Kenya’s recent protests whose life has been threatened, equally share Spire’s sentiments.
I felt Spire’s pain in his post, which prompted me to ask this question: who defends the defenders of social justice, human rights and democracy?
The attacks on defenders of human rights, freedom, liberal rights, democracy and accountable government are well-orchestrated and crafted to weaken them.
But the contributions of Spire, Atuhaire, Ssentamu, McOure and the others cannot be underrated regarding their contributions to fighting for a fair, just and inclusive society. For example, McOure and the Gen Z demonstrations in Kenya have led to the finance Bill being halted by President William Ruto’s administration.
The defenders have driven public discourse championing people-centred policies, minimising gender disparities and safeguarding democracy.
Under dictatorships defenders are likely to face prison among other punishments, therefore we should link them to international networks such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty international for legal aid, emergency support, medical support and, in worst case scenarios, evacuation.
As an aside, Spire and Atuhaire were recognised as human rights defenders in 2023 and 2024 respectively by the European Union, while Atuhairwe received the International Women of Courage Award 2024 from the US secretary of state.
Let us recognise defenders’ work by celebrating them, documenting them, and raising more awareness about their humanitarian services.
As civic spaces continue to shrink it is prudent for media houses, development partners and NGOs to provide safe spaces to mitigate persecution and repression.
I am reminded of the words of Martin Niemoller, a German priest who spent eight years in Nazi prisons and concentration camps: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”
If we fail to defend and protect the defenders of human rights, democracy and accountable governance, we will end up, like Martin Niemoller, with no one left to defend us as a society when the wrath of totalitarianism and dictatorship comes for us.
It is the duty of all of us to defend the defenders.
Robert Kigongo is a defender of defenders and a sustainable development analyst.