Prison notebooks of a Ugandan journalist

Andrew Mwenda, one of Uganda’s most prominent journalists (and one of the continent’s best thinkers) has posted his prison notes on a new blog.

The charge was sedition, the origins were murky, but the motive was not: telling truth to power is still a dangerous enterprise in Uganda. President Museveni is not one to kill or disappear his opponents, but he and his henchmen are skillful intimidators.

Mwenda later had a bittersweet release:

I rushed down stairs to pick my belongings. Then something hit me! I was leaving these people behind. I was privileged. My constitutional rights were respected because I had a name. Many of the other prisoners who were in jail for crimes they did not know were going to remain behind without possibility of bail. All the prisoners came to see me leave. It was an extremely emotional moment for me. I hugged each and every prisoner as the police guard insisted I hurry up. I looked in each person’s eyes as I hugged them goodbye, and there was both pain and celebration. They were happy I was regaining my freedom, but sad that a friend was leaving them. Many still wanted to tell me more of their stories so that I can write them in the newspapers.

The old notebooks are fascinating, but I hope Andrew keeps up the blogging and gives us new material.

In the meantime, see Andrew’s news magazine. His TED talk. A Washington Post piece.