Prisons Tells Sacked Officer to Shut-Up Or Face Arrest

Lawrence Ampe was investigated for social media posts alleging corruption, human rights abuses, and mistreatment of junior officers by senior officials, and was dismissed from the Prisons Service last month.

The Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) has warned its dismissed officer, who was sacked for criticizing the government on TikTok, to shut up before he’s arrested on defamation charges.

Lawrence Ampe was investigated for social media posts alleging corruption, human rights abuses, and mistreatment of junior officers by senior officials, and was dismissed from the Prisons Service last month.

Following his dismissal, Ampe shared the letter on social media, including TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), captioning it: “I’m finally out, free to support truth.”

He made more videos urging Ugandans not to worry about his job loss, saying: “What we’re doing isn’t about money, it’s about liberating our nation.

He said he used his TikTok account, with over 100,000 followers, to expose corrupt senior officials and misuse of power, and to inspire patriotism among Ugandans. He was later seen in Ngora district at NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) presidential rally, urging people to vote for Kyagulanyi.

Ampe’s ongoing attacks on prison officials post-dismissal have ruffled feathers. Frank Baine, the prison spokesperson has warned that Ampe’s behavior could get him arrested, saying his indiscipline won’t be tolerated just because he’s no longer in the service.

When govt has trained you and paid you, dismissal doesn’t give you a free pass to cause trouble. If police and intelligence deem it fit, they’ll go after him. If Prisons Service feels he’s defaming us, we can ask for his arrest,” Baine noted.

He added: “I’m not saying he’ll definitely be arrested, but just that the public service code still applies to him. Dismissal isn’t an excuse to trash the government’s image. The long arm of the law still gets him.”

Baine stressed that Ampe’s dismissal was a straightforward case of indiscipline, not politics. He noted that Ampe was one of over 27 officers dismissed that day for similar reasons, like failing to perform duties.

“There’s been a lot of speculation about Ampe’s dismissal. Let me clear it up: he was one of 27 officers dismissed by the Prison Council for indiscipline, failure to perform, mismatched papers, desertion, and others. It wasn’t just Ampe, people are choosing to see politics where there’s none,” Baine noted.