Malawian man faces 6-year jail term over TikTok video of president

Identified as Sainani Nkhoma, he was reported to have superimposed the president's face onto an animated figure performing bizarre dance moves accompanied by insulting comments directed at the president.

Convicted on May 17, Nkhoma was arrested after the video, which quickly circulated on social media, was reported to the ruling Malawi Congress Party and the police by members of a community WhatsApp group where he posted the content to mock the president, Africanews reports.

Presiding Judge Talakwanji Mndala who is expected to hand down a verdict next week also warned that Nkhoma faces a potential fine of approximately $3,500 or a six-year prison sentence.

Despite public uproar concerning the court's decision, Malawian President Chakwera who has governed the nation since 2020 has yet to respond.

His presidency followed a historic win in a 2019 rerun election, where he defeated the incumbent Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of the votes. His victory was significant as it marked the first time in Africa that an election was repealed due to irregularities and led to the opposition candidate winning the subsequent rerun.

There have been precedents to arrests trailing insults targeted at heads of state in Africa. Over the past decade in Zimbabwe, more than 70 people have been arrested for insulting former President Robert Mugabe. Additionally, 40-year-old Raphael Okoe Ankrah was remanded into police custody in Ghana after he insulted President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a video posted to social media in May 2023.

Burkinabé activist Kambou Ollo Mathias was arrested for insulting junta leader Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba on September 5, 2022, according to reports. Plainclothes police officers apprehended Mathias as he was leaving a local radio programme, where he had commented on the State of the Nation address given by the military leader.