By Mulengera Reporters
Ugandan academic, cartoonist, and human rights defender, Jimmy Spire Ssentongo is the recipient of the 2024 EU Human Rights Defenders Award. Dr. Spire Sentoongo was recognized for having used social media to highlight issues of accountability.
The Award, which is now in its 13th year, is given to a human rights defender who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human rights in their community over the past twelve months.
Ssentongo is one of the brains behind the Agora discourse which has used social media to expose corruption and maladministration. He together with fellow activists like Agather Atuhaire in Mach had an exhibition on parliament.
Their expose’ of corruption in Uganda’s Parliament raised eyebrows following documents revealing how the Speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among had been dishing out huge sums of public money to her cronies. They have run exhibitions of potholes in Kampala and the state of health services on the health sector in Uganda.
Dr. Ssentongo has used satire through his cartoons to push for change or better service delivery. He has drawn cartoons of some public figures including President Museveni, his son Muhoozi Kainrugaba, and others. He uses satire to make the reader laugh as he/she ponders the message behind the drawings. His cartoons tend to annoy his victims, yet to him, that is a triumph on his side. He uses humor as a powerful tool for balance of power.
Ssentongo is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Identity Studies at Uganda Martyrs University. He also teaches Ethics and Research methods at Makerere University. Signe Winding Albjerg, Danish Ambassador to Uganda announced Dr. Ssentongo the winner of the 2024 EU award.
The 12th winner of the award was former URN journalist- turned lawyer, Agather Atuhaire who has been working with Dr. Ssentongo on the accountability exhibitions.
Speaking at the award event, our Ambassador saluted the two runners-up in this year’s EU Human Rights Defenders Award, Jesca Ruth Ataa for her advancement of the rights of Karamajong Women and Doreen Namyalo-Kyazze for defending the rights of vulnerable people in prisons.
The runners up.
Jesca Ruth Ataa is a human rights defender from Kotido, Karamoja. She leads Nakere Rural Women Activists (NARWOA), an umbrella community-based organization for women’s groups.
NARWOA responds to humanitarian crises and addresses cross-border and inter-ethnic political instability, the rise of warlords, domestic violence and discrimination of women in society.
NARWOA has reached over 15,000 women and 250,000 children through programmes aimed at appropriate and viable income-generating activities.
Doreen Kyazze is a lawyer and human rights activist. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Center Kampala.
During the past fourteen years, including her time at Penal Reform International, Doreen has campaigned against the death penalty and worked hard to secure the rights of women in detention.
She has worked across the region to push for a model law on crime prevention in Africa and has also trained police, prison staff and others in the justice sector. She has also been active in drafting progressive laws and policies in Uganda-URN (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [whatsapp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).