Francis Kapwepwe, popularly known as “Why Me,” has been sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment with hard labor effective from the date of his arrest.

The Livingstone Magistrate Court has found social media blogger Francis Kapwepwe, known as “Why Me,” guilty of hate speech and sentenced him to jail.

Kapwepwe faced two charges.

The first charge was expressing hatred, ridicule, or contempt for individuals based on their race, tribe, or place of origin, in violation of Section 70(1) of the Penal Code.

The court found that between March 25 and April 6, 2024, he published Facebook statements showing contempt for

Tonga-speaking individuals.

The second charge involved hate speech, contrary to Section 65 of the Cyber Security and Cybercrimes Act.

This related to a Facebook video, from March 29 to April 6, 2024, where Kapwepwe made derogatory remarks about Tonga-speaking people.

Represented by attorney Anthony Bwalya, Kapwepwe denied the charges.

The state presented evidence indicating Kapwepwe was not a first-time offender.

However, Bwalya argued the previous offenses were not similar.

Magistrate Thabita Muleya concluded that the state failed to prove Kapwepwe was a repeat offender.

Bwalya emphasized that Kapwepwe, married with two children and caring for his sick mother, had already served over nine months in custody.

Magistrate Muleya found the state had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

She sentenced Kapwepwe to 12 months of imprisonment with hard labor for each count, to run concurrently from his arrest date.

UPND member and complainant Innocent Mwinga described the court’s outcome as a strong message to would-be offenders.

Counsel Bwalya confirmed that Kapwepwe would be going home, having served his nine-month sentence in custody.