At the time it was passed the government argued that the law was necessary to prevent individuals from engaging in speech that incited violence and promoted hatred and discrimination against a person or group.
It was also intended to promote tolerance and mutual respect and to control the dissemination and proliferation of hate speech, disinformation and other false and misleading information.
But has it worked?
So far no one has been indicted for hate speech, although there are a handful of disinformation cases still being adjudicated.
Firstly because courts in the country are invariably oblivious to international human rights standards. This means that defining hate speech in the way it’s done in the new law is bound to shackle freedom of expression and result in a chilling effect on journalistic activities.
Ethiopia is set to hold general elections for members of the federal parliament and regional councils on June 5, 2021. It will be the sixth such elections, and another chance for Ethiopia to transit to democracy.
For many centuries, Ethiopia was ruled by a long line of absolute monarchs . The last emperor was overthrown by a popular revolution in 1974. However, the revolution was hijacked by a military junta that ruled the country until its overthrow in 1991.
There was hope that Ethiopia would embrace democracy for the first time when the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front, a coalition of four ethnic political parties, took power in 1991 and introduced multiparty elections. This was not to be. The front conducted five sham general elections and ruled the country with an iron fist for 28 years.
Around the globe, we need to take a page from Uganda’s history to remind ourselves that democracy needs to be fought for every single day, for it can be far too easily lost to demagogues.
Democracy in Uganda is Down but the Spirit of Its People is Not
Around the globe, we need to remind ourselves that democracy needs to be fought for every single day, for it can be far too easily lost to demagogues.
Voting materials for the presidential elections are checked upon arriving at a voting center in Kampala, Uganda, January 14, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
World19/Jan/2021
In Uganda’s presidential elections held on January 14, 2021, Yoweri Museveni, the incumbent, came back to power, defeating the up-and-coming singer-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, commonly known by his stage name âBobi Wineâ. If Museveni sees through this five-year-term in office, he would complete four decades as Ugandaâs premier.
Despite the twin problems – poverty and insecurity – that have faced Niger in the past few decades, President Mahamadou Issoufou successfully completed his two-term tenure. In December 2020, the country held the first election to transfer power from one civilian regime to another since independence from France in 1960.
The 27 December election was inconclusive as no candidate got the constitutionally mandated 50% of the vote to emerge as president. A runoff is now scheduled for 21 February.
When President Issoufou assumed power in 2011 (a year after a coup d’etat which led to the removal of Mamadou Tandja), the country was overwhelmed by widespread poverty and insecurity. Persistent agitations came from the Tuareg ethnic groups, stemming from perceived marginalisation and oppression. Issoufou’s first step towards stabilising the country was to appoint Brigi Rafini, a Tuareg leader from Agadez, as prime minister.