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Makerere University lecturer Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo has told a European delegation that some of his family members have stopped picking up his calls in fear of being marked as his contacts.

Ssentongo, who is also a columnist, portraitist, author, and editorial cartoonist, made the revelation on Thursday, May 2, 2024, during the Human Rights Defender’ Award 2024 ceremony in Kampala at the residence of the ambassador of Denmark in Kampala.

The European Union (EU) and Norway named Ssentongo as the winner of the EU Human Rights Defender Award 2024 for contributing to the advancement of human rights over the past 12 months.

Every year, the EU awards a human rights defender who can be either (an) individual (s), group (s), and organs of society seek or with others, acts to promote and protect universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Their work included documenting violations, seeking remedies for victims, providing legal, psychological, and medical as well as combating cultures of impunity.

Head of the EU delegation to Uganda Jan Sadek said the leading human rights defenders demonstrate that universal values have real meaning in everyday life and that when used as a framework for governing societies, they can transform people’s lives.

Danish ambassador to Uganda Signe Winding Albjerg said Ssentongo was chosen as the winner in recognition of his courageous work to expose corruption in public life in Uganda, most recently through the online campaign under the Uganda Parliament Exhibition and also campaigns aimed at improving the state of Public infrastructure in Kampala, health services and policing.

“His online exhibitions depict courage and resilience and have opened up alternative options for active citizen engagement in calling government to action on issues that affect communities,”

In an emotional speech, Ssentogo thanked everyone who has taken the risk of standing with him and others who speak for those with little or no voice.

“Granting this award is an act of courage by the EU in Uganda. Certainly, there are risks. Some of our people have stopped picking up our calls in fear. They do not want to be marked as our contacts. Good enough they are few. So, I do not take this for granted,” he said.

Ssentongo added that while he is the one who has received the award, so many people have made his activism possible like the Agora team, the online army that is always there to his defence, friends, and the Government for giving him a constant supply of issues.

“As you award me, I also urge you to isolate the individual abusers and make the world tiny for them. I thank everyone who has chosen to stand with the oppressed. Sometimes, when you get such reassurance that you are not crazy and that many are with you. You get encouraged. Even some detractors might have to think twice before engaging a drone,” Ssentongo said.

He told the guests that it delights him to be appreciated for doing what comes from his heart and what he loves doing.

“It is the passion that keeps me going, even when instinct suggests flight. If it was for material benefits, this is not the kind of work that one would choose. I would rather dig pit latrines. No one wishes to live in anxiety whether you will be free or alive the next day. No one wishes to wake up screaming and sweating like a possessed fella. No one wants to keep their family and loved ones under constant worry,” Ssentongo said.

He also recognised other human rights defender in the country who, according to him are doing amazing work out there without his kind of noise and drama.

Other winners

Others shortlisted for this year’s award were Jesca Ruth Ataa, a women rights activist based in Kotido district, and Doreen Namyalo Kyazze, a human rights lawyer with Penal Reform International.

Ataa was shortlisted for her outstanding contribution to women-led peacebuilding efforts in Karamoja. She also leads Nakere Rural Women Activists and an umbrella community-based network for women’s groups.

Namyalo Kyazze was nominated for her notable contributions to improving conditions in prisons, especially for women detainees. She has advanced pro-bono services to many indigent defendants and has also authored several papers on torture and the management of vulnerable prisoners.

For one to qualify for the EU award, they have to be nominated by another individual or organisation. This year, human rights organisations active in Uganda were invited to nominate candidates for the award. Candidates were assessed by a panel composed of human rights experts from different European embassies and the EU heads of mission.