Contempt of court: Dr Spire Ssentongo loses bid to halt sh30m penalty
Earlier this month, court registrar Simon Kintu Zirintusa found Dr Ssentongo in contempt of court over a social media post he made on X, formerly Twitter, concerning KIU.
Contempt of court: Dr Spire Ssentongo loses bid to halt sh30m penalty
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Renowned cartoonist and philosophy lecturer at Makerere University, Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, has less than 14 days to pay sh30m or risk being committed to civil prison for three months over contempt of court.
This follows the dismissal of his application for a stay of execution by Justice Bonny Isaac Teko of the Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala.
In a ruling dated August 6, 2026, Justice Teko said he was not persuaded that refusing a stay would render Dr Ssentongo’s appeal nugatory, as his lawyers had submitted, because the appellate process remains fully available to him.
“The grounds challenging the jurisdiction of the learned registrar, the interpretation of the injunction, the standard of proof and the propriety of the contempt findings will all receive full consideration before the appellate court. Refusing a stay does not determine those issues, it merely declines to suspend the operation of an otherwise valid judgment pending that determination,” Justice Teko ruled.
“Having considered all the circumstances of this application, I am satisfied that granting a stay would undermine rather than advance the proper administration of justice. The application is hereby dismissed,” Justice Teko said.
“The interests of justice therefore favour refusal of the application,” the judge noted.
While Dr Ssentongo argued that execution before his appeal is heard would cause irreparable prejudice to him, Justice Teko said the monetary consequences were capable of restitution should the appeal succeed.
Earlier this month, court registrar Simon Kintu Zirintusa found Dr Ssentongo in contempt of court over a social media post he made on X, formerly Twitter, concerning KIU.
The court proceedings arose from a social media campaign by Dr Ssentongo in which he accused KIU of refusing to refund more than sh5m belonging to his late brother’s child, who had opted to transfer to another university.
His campaign also drew complaints from other people who raised concerns about KIU’s admission and tuition refund policies, as well as missing marks and other grievances.
KIU subsequently went to court, resulting in the contempt proceedings against Dr Ssentongo.
With the rise of social media, contempt of court is becoming an escalating legal and digital challenge in the country.
Among those battling contempt of court proceedings are Uganda Law Society (ULS) president Isaac Ssemakadde and counsel Eron Kiiza, a lawyer to Dr Kizza Besigye.
Activists argue that contempt of court is no longer sustainable and is simply being used to silence the public on matters of public interest.
What is contempt of court?
Contempt of court occurs where a person seeks to interfere with or subvert the court process by failing to comply with orders issued by a court or abusing the court process.
In Florence Dawaru versus Angumale Albino & Anor, HCMA No. 0096 of 2016, High Court judge Stephen Mubiru defined conduct that amounts to contempt of court to include that which scandalises or tends to scandalise or lower or tends to lower the authority of any court, prejudices or interferes or tends to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceeding, or interferes or tends to interfere with, obstructs or tends to obstruct the administration of justice in any other manner.