TikToker Pressure granted bail, barred from mentioning Kabaka, Museveni, Anita’s names

Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s court has granted bail to a TikToker Ibrahim Musana commonly known as Pressure 24 Seven.

However, court has barred him from ever mentioning the names of President Yoweri Museveni, speaker of parliament Anita Among and Kabaka of Buganda as part of his bail terms and conditions. The social media activist who is battling charges of hate speech appeared before chief magistrate Ronald Kayizi today Monday after spending over 60 days on remand without the commencement of his trial.

“I am guided by the above constitutional provision and the above ruling on the Constitutional court, I am of the view that when an accused person has clocked the mandatory period on remand court can only set bail conditions. It can not adjourn the case for any other purpose because an accused person can be released on his own cognizance,” said Kayizi.

He relied on the case filed by the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) against the Attorney General, which was determined some years back by the Constitutional court. He then went on to grant pressure cash bail of Shs 2 million while his sureties executed a non-cash bond of Shs 20 million each.

The sureties include Caroline Mugoya and Magarate Nabuzale both maternal aunties of the accused person. The court ordered Pressure to desist from mentioning the name of the Kabaka, the president, speaker and state minister for Information Communication Technology (ICT) Joyce Sebugwawo on his social media handles until the case is completed.  

The chief magistrate warned that should Pressure mention any of the names on his platforms, court would cancel his bail. Earlier, the prosecution had requested for two more weeks to conclude the investigations and verify the authenticity of the documents presented by the sureties but court declined the request.

Prosecution states that between August 2023 and February 2024 in areas of Kampala district, while using a computer via his TikTok account, Pressure 24 Seven shared information, which is likely to degrade or demean and promote hostility against the four leaders.

Pressure was arraigned before the court for the first time on February 24, 2024. He, however, did not directly plead to the charges. He told the magistrate that he wasn’t aware that by posting such videos, he was committing an offence since he is psychologically unwell having been admitted to Butabiika national referral mental hospital some time back.

According to Pressure, he was being disturbed by the spirits of past kings of Buganda kingdom who tasked him to repair their tombs but he was financially constrained. He explained that he had written to Buganda kingdom for two years informing them that he is a prince and the spirits are making such demands but didn’t receive any response.

He therefore pleaded to the court to forgive him with a promise to desist from attacking leaders and to delete all the hate speech content from TikTok. His troubles started when Buganda officials reported a case of ridiculing the Kabaka to the police. He was then arrested and kept under police custody for a week before his production in court.