KAMPALA — Ugandans and supporters from across the world have raised Shs24 million in 24 hours to help activist and academic Jim Spire Ssentongo meet court-imposed financial penalties, in what campaign organisers described as an expression of solidarity with his work and principles.
Journalist and activist Agather Atuhaire, who spearheaded the fundraising campaign alongside lawyer and activist Kiiza Eron, announced that contributions had reached Shs24 million.
“We now stand at UGX 24,000,000 for @SpireJim. So Ugandans have contributed 24M in the last 24 hours!! This is love. This is solidarity. This is defiance. This is appreciation… and so much more,” Atuhaire said.
Ssentongo thanked the contributors, saying the campaign had gone beyond his personal circumstances and had become a broader expression of support for accountability and individual freedoms.
“I sincerely thank you all for the overwhelming gesture of love in contributing towards my court penalties,” Ssentongo said.
He said many contributors did not first ask whether he could personally afford the penalties, but instead contributed because they identified with what they believed he represented.
“You never asked if I had the money or not, you simply showed up in solidarity,” he said.
Ssentongo said contributions continued even after the initial fundraising target had been reached, with some donations as small as Shs4,000.
According to him, the campaign attracted support from people across Uganda’s political, ethnic and religious spectrum, including people who identify with both the opposition and the ruling NRM.
“Both opposition and NRM people showed up. Even ministers reached out with concern,” he said.
He also said the campaign received contributions and expressions of support from outside Uganda, naming Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States, Finland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil among the countries from which people participated.
Ssentongo said contributors had different motivations, with some supporting what they regarded as principles of accountability and freedom, while others were responding to personal experiences with injustice or for religious reasons.
“Some just stood up for principles, some for religious reasons, some in memory of injustices they’ve themselves faced in the past and still,” he said.
He thanked Atuhaire and Eron for initiating the campaign before he requested assistance, as well as National Unity Platform president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, for amplifying the fundraising appeal.
Ssentongo said the financial support he has received since the case began has not been limited to the latest campaign.
“I must add that ever since this case started, I have never spent a single penny of mine. Well wishers, fans, and friends have carried me on their shoulders all through – and very happily,” he said.
He argued that the public response should not be interpreted simply as support for him personally, but as support for the causes and principles associated with his work.
“It is not me they carry though, it is the cause,” Ssentongo said.
The campaign has consequently become a notable example of how social media networks are being used in Uganda to mobilise financial support around legal cases and causes involving public figures and activists.
Ssentongo said the response had also reinforced his belief that Uganda has a large number of people willing to support one another across political and social divisions.
“This country has very many good people, and we could build on those to do much more good,” he said.
