A Kampala court has sentenced Edison Ssemugenyi, a 20-year-old Senior Six student, to six months imprisonment for spreading false information about President Museveni and his son, Chief of Defence Forces General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Ssemugenyi appeared before the Nakawa Chief Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, where he was convicted under the Computer Misuse Act.

According to the prosecution, the student used his social media platform to falsely claim that President Museveni was bedridden and made abusive statements directed at Gen. Muhoozi.

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State prosecutors told the court that the posts, made last month, attracted wide attention online. Ssemugenyi was arrested shortly afterward, just days after sitting only two Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examination papers.

Ssemugenyi, who had only written two of his Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) papers when he was arrested last month, pleaded guilty to the two charges and was sentenced to serve his term at Luzira Prison on Tuesday.

While entering his plea, Ssemugenyi admitted to making the posts and pleaded for leniency. However, the presiding magistrate noted that the offence involved misleading the public and disrespecting national figures, adding that such conduct could cause unnecessary alarm.

"The court must discourage the misuse of online platforms to spread falsehoods and harmful speech," the magistrate said while issuing the six-month sentence.

He, however, denied a separate charge of sharing content on TikTok alleging that President Museveni is a thief.