After sleeping in Uganda’s dreaded Luzira maximum prison for more than 150 days, Kampala’s notorious Tik Tok content creator Dean Lubowa Saava finally cracked and agreed to make a deal with the state and his victims.
The TV10 Mazima chief content creator was first arrested in August last year. This was after many of the victims he had demonized in his hate speech-filled videos on his social media platforms, reported him to the authorities.
He was separately investigated by Uganda communications commission, state house anti-corruption unit, the police and the office of the DPP. It was UCC which arrested him originally and charged him with illegal broadcasting. He must have a broadcasting license from the communications commission, which he didn’t have.
After the commission arresting him, other victims of his blogging came up and opened cases against him at police. These included Prof Badru Kateregga, PostBank Uganda, contractor Lutaaya Alex and deputy IGG Ann Twinomugisha Muhairwe.
Muhairwe’s case was resolved on Thursday when Saava was returned to court and pleaded guilty. Saava asked the complainant Muhairwe to forgive him and went on to confess everything before chief magistrate Sarah Ann Basemera who was presiding over the court.
Saava said he was remorseful and had learnt bitter lessons, and was ready to plead guilty to all the counts arising from Muhairwe’s complaint. He narrated to the magistrate the lies he told against Muhairwe including lying to his audiences that she had pocketed a bribe of Ugx200m.
The lies he admitted to have told about Muhairwe included the claim that she had used Xavier Kakooza Ntensibe to solicit a bribe of Ugx200m from Kaabong district engineer Daniel Lokong, in order to kill the investigations, he was facing.
Saava admitted before the magistrate that these were all lies and named the insiders at the inspectorate who were feeding him such wrong information aimed at destroying Muhairwe’s reputation. There are big people inside the inspectorate who Saava says put money into the smear campaign targeted at destroying Muhairwe as the president was preparing to reappoint her.
Saava also named and implicated a policeman SPC Katungi Alex as one of those who unleashed him to destroy Muhairwe. Katungi had been investigated for a range of crimes including torture of women in Kajjansi and wetland encroachment.
Saava also admitted to being instigated by Katungi to make videos accusing Muhairwe of being a wetland grabber in Munyonyo near Lake Victoria.
He admitted before the magistrate that all these were lies which he was facilitated to put out there, having degenerated into gun for hire.
Katungi was angry after coming out of Luzira were he had been remanded over land grabbing and torture claims. He wanted a fearless journalist who would help him revenge on Muhairwe, upon being facilitated.
Saava also admitted to malicious destruction of Xavier Kakooza’s name because the alleged picking of Ugx200m from Serena hotel actually never happened. Saava admitted it was all fabricated to destroy Muhairwe’s name.
Saava also admitted before the magistrate that the investigations he claimed that the president’s office was conducting on Muhairwe over the Kaabong saga was mere fabrication. There was no such a thing. He admitted that video of his was nothing but falsehoods.
Saava also admitted that Xavier Kakooza is a big man at IG office where he serves as director of ombudsman affairs and not a mere personal assistant as was reported in his videos.
He undertook to delete all the videos and to also go ahead to run public apologies to Muhairwe on social media and also in the three national newspapers Bukedde, Monitor and New Vision at his own cost.
His confession, given in return for freedom from Luzira which has been his home since last August, will most likely create tensions and problems for his sources inside the IG offices, who he says he is ready to pin even it means doing so on camera. Saava is angry that such sources who were facilitating him to destroy Muhairwe ignored him and never supported his family once he got into problems.
After convicting him on his own guilty plea, her worship Sarah Ann Basemera sentenced Saava to paying a fine totaling toUgx5m or serve in Luzira for five years for his criminal defamation acts and also for broadcasting without broadcasting license from Uganda communications commission.
Saava was given one month within which to pay the fine of Ugx5m and to also place a public apology in three newspapers of wide circulation-Bukedde, Monitor and new vision. If he fails to do that, then custodial sentence will become the option whereby he will serve in Luzira for five years.