Maimane calls on Twitter to ban Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni

19 January 2021 - 10:00 By unathi nkanjeni
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One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane has called on Twitter's founder Jack Dorsey to ban Uganda’s newly re-elected President Yoweri Museveni.
One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane has called on Twitter's founder Jack Dorsey to ban Uganda’s newly re-elected President Yoweri Museveni.
Image: Twitter/Mmusi Maimane

With US President Donald Trump banned from Twitter, One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane has called for the same for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Maimane's call comes after Museveni was re-elected for a sixth term claiming 58.6% of the vote. His rival opponent Bobi Wine denounced the results as fraudulent and urged citizens to reject them.

TimesLIVE reported that Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, won 34.8% of the vote, according to the country's election commission.

The Ugandan government banned all social media and messaging apps ahead of the election and ordered that the internet be shut off.

Museveni has been in power for 35 years and campaigned for another term, arguing his long experience makes him a good leader.

He has been accused of killing citizens who do not abide by his law. Museveni previously signed into law a “kill the gays” bill, but it was ruled invalid on a technicality by the courts in 2014.

Maimane urged the founder and CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, to remove Museveni from the platform.

“Remove Yoweri Museveni from Twitter. He has killed civilians, he has shut down the internet and social media, he has deployed the army around the home of Bobi Wine,” said Maimane.

When asked by one user why he wanted Museveni to be banned from the platform, Maimane said it was the right thing to do.

He also told another user that banning Museveni on the app “sends a strong message that this man is not worthy of esteem and platforms of legitimate civic discourse”.

Earlier this month, AfriForum’s Ernst Roets suggested that EFF leader Julius Malema should also be suspended on Twitter.

Roets said the EFF leader has been reported many times and suggested that, like Trump, Malema's tweets amount to incitement of violence.

Malema responded, telling Roets to “voetsek” and sit down.


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