Stella Nyanzi

{{Short description|Ugandan anthropologist, human rights activist, politician, and poet}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Stella Nyanzi

| image = Stella Nyanzi, September 2020 (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|6|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Jinja, Jinja Hospital, Uganda

| alias = Nnalongo Owenene, Nnalongo (Mother of twins){{cite web|title=Profile: Who is Dr. Stella Nyanzi?|url=http://matookerepublic.com/2016/04/18/profile-who-is-dr-stella-nyanzi/|website=Matooke Republic|date=18 April 2016|access-date=18 April 2016}}

| alma_mater = {{plainlist|

Makerere University
{{small|(Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Literature)}}
University College London
{{small|(Masters in Science, Medical Anthropology)}}
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
{{small|(PhD in Social anthropology)}}

}}

| occupation = Scholar, anthropologist, human rights activist

| years_active = 1997— present

| nationality = Ugandan

| citizenship = Uganda

| networth =

}}

Stella Nyanzi (born 16 June 1974){{Cite web|title=Stella Nyanzi {{!}} South African History Online|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/stella-nyanzi|access-date=2020-08-20|website=www.sahistory.org.za}} is a Ugandan human rights advocate, poet, medical anthropologist, feminist, queer rights advocate, and scholar of sexuality, family planning, and public health. In 2017, she was arrested for insulting the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni.

In January 2022, she was accepted to live in Germany on a writers-in-exile programme run by PEN Germany, with her three children.{{Cite web|date=2022-01-27|title='I'm free at last': Uganda's rudest poet on prison, protest and finding a new voice in Germany|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jan/27/im-free-at-last-ugandas-rudest-poet-stella-nyanzi-on-prison-protest-and-finding-new-voice-in-germany|access-date=2022-01-29|website=the Guardian|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2022-01-20|title=Who is after Dr Stella Nyanzi? Political activist flees to Germany citing political persecution.. again|url=http://nilepost.co.ug/2022/01/20/who-is-after-dr-stella-nyanzi-political-activist-flees-to-germany-citing-political-persecution-again/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Nile Post|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2022-01-27|title='I am free at last' – Ugandan activist Stella Nyanzi talks moving to Germany and escaping a dictator|url=https://afronews.de/africans-in-germany/ugandan-activist-stella-nyanzi-moves-germany-finds-freedom/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Afronews Germany|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|title=Stella Nyanzi abandons Kakwenza protest for German asylum|url=https://ekyooto.co.uk/2022/01/20/stella-nyanzi-abandons-kakwenza-protest-for-german-asylum/|date=20 January 2022|first=Emmanuel|last=Busingye|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Ekyooto Uganda|language=en-US}}

Education

Nyanzi received her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Literature at Makerere University where she studied from 1993 to 1996.{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stella_Nyanzi2|title=Stella Nyanzi {{!}} PhD {{!}} Makerere University, Kampala {{!}} Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR)|last=PhD|first=Stella NyanziMakerere University · Makerere Institute of Social Research23 09 ·|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} She received her Master of Science in Medical Anthropology at University College London, where she studied from 1999 to 2000. She received her PhD in anthropology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she studied social anthropology, sexuality, and youth and health policy from 2003 to 2008.

Nyanzi has conducted research on youth sexuality in Uganda, and also in The Gambia in 2005.{{cite web|title=Who is Stella Nyanzi? Biography, CV, background, marriage, career and war against Museveni|url=http://blizz.co.ug/stella-nyanzi-biography-cv-background-marriage-career-war-museveni/|website=Blizz Uganda|access-date=19 March 2018}}

Career

Nyanzi began her career in 1997 as a social science research associate at the Medical Research Council (UK) Programme in Uganda, where she worked until September 2002. She then received a new position working as Local Anthropologist at the Medical Research Council Laboratories, The Gambia, where she worked for one year. She left that position to pursue her PhD in London.

In 2009, Nyanzi began at Makerere University as a Researcher at the Law, Gender & Sexuality Research Project, as a member of the Faculty of Law, where she worked until December 2013. She then worked as a Research Fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research until 2016. While there, she was asked to lecture in the new PhD programme called the Mamdani PHD Project, but declined. Her office was closed and, in an example of the West African feminist cultural practice of what the scholar Naminata Diabate has called "[https://africana.cornell.edu/naminata-diabate naked agency]," made a nude protest against her boss.{{cite web|title=The Dr Stella Nyanzi you did not know…|url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/The-Dr-Stella-Nyanzi-you-did-not-know-/691232-3178870-r84xty/index.html|website=Daily Monitor|access-date=27 April 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/11/16/why-leaders-tremble-when-women-strip_c1850940|first=Eric|last=Mugaju|title=Why leaders tremble when women strip|website=The Star|location= Kenya|language=en|date=16 November 2018|access-date=2019-01-07}}

After her arrest in 2017, Nyanzi was suspended from Makerere University. She appealed the decision with Makerere University's appeal tribunal, which directed that she be reinstated, promoted to the level of a research fellow with immediate effect, and paid back wages.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Stella-Nyanzi-says-suffered-miscarriage-in-jail/688334-4927622-3oxu3oz/index.html|title=Stella Nyanzi says she suffered a miscarriage in jail|website=Daily Monitor|language=en|access-date=2019-01-09}} The university refused to abide by its tribunal's decision. So, she filed a lawsuit against the university requesting reinstatement and back wages.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Makerere-lifts-Stella-Nyanzi-suspension/1066-4789122-hy36pk/index.html|title=Big win for Stella Nyanzi against Makerere|website=Daily Nation|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Court-sets-date-for-Nyanzi--case-against-Makerere--/1066-4916964-7b2hbxz/index.html|title=Court sets date for Nyanzi case against Makerere|website=Daily Nation|language=en|date=1 January 2019|access-date=2019-01-07}} In response, in December 2018, the university dismissed her, along with 45 other academics, arguing that her contract expired.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Makerere-University-sacks-Stella-Nyanzi/1066-4906744-uwkb5i/index.html|title=Makerere University sacks Stella Nyanzi|website=Daily Nation|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}

Nyanzi has also done consulting work for various social research organizations outside of Uganda and The Gambia.

Research

Nyanzi is a well-cited scholar in her fields, with 61 articles and 2,049 citations by May 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,31&q=Stella+Nyanzi&btnG=|title=Google Scholar|website=scholar.google.com|access-date=2019-01-07}}{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ge66gEUAAAAJ&hl=en|title=Stella Nyanzi - Google Scholar Citations|website=scholar.google.com|access-date=2019-01-07}}{{Cite web |title=Stella Nyanzi |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ge66gEUAAAAJ&hl=en |access-date=2022-05-22 |website=scholar.google.com}} Among her most cited articles are those on Ugandan youth's negotiations of sexual relationships,{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/09540120020018206|pmid = 11177467|title = The negotiation of sexual relationships among school pupils in south-western Uganda|journal = AIDS Care|volume = 13|issue = 1|pages = 83–98|year = 2001|last1 = Nyanzi|first1 = S.|last2 = Pool|first2 = R.|last3 = Kinsman|first3 = J.|s2cid = 24595648}} attitudes towards HIV testing among pregnant Ugandan women,{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/09540120120063232|pmid = 11571007|title = Attitudes to voluntary counselling and testing for HIV among pregnant women in rural south-west Uganda|journal = AIDS Care|volume = 13|issue = 5|pages = 605–615|year = 2001|last1 = Pool|first1 = R.|last2 = Nyanzi|first2 = S.|last3 = Whitworth|first3 = J. A. G.|s2cid = 31272526}} Ugandan women's control over sexual encounters,{{Cite journal|date=2001-02-01|title=Female control of sexuality: illusion or reality? Use of vaginal products in south west Uganda|journal=Social Science & Medicine|language=en|volume=52|issue=4|pages=585–598|doi=10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00162-3|pmid=11206655|issn=0277-9536|last1=Green|first1=Gill|last2=Pool|first2=Robert|last3=Harrison|first3=Susan|last4=Hart|first4=Graham J.|last5=Wilkinson|first5=Joanie|last6=Nyanzi|first6=Stella|last7=Whitworth|first7=JamesA.G}} Ugandan men's attitudes towards contraceptive use,{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/136910500300804|pmid = 12295882|title = Men's attitudes to condoms and female controlled means of protection against HIV and STDs in south-western Uganda|journal = Culture, Health & Sexuality|volume = 2|issue = 2|pages = 197–211|year = 2000|last1 = Pool|first1 = Robert|last2 = Hart|first2 = Graham|last3 = Green|first3 = Gillian|last4 = Harrison|first4 = Susan|last5 = Nyanzi|first5 = Stella|last6 = Whitworth|first6 = Jimmy|s2cid = 22124553}} and the sexual behavior of many groups.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691050310001658208|pmid = 21972876|title = Mobility, sexual networks and exchange amongbodabodamenin southwest Uganda|journal = Culture, Health & Sexuality|volume = 6|issue = 3|pages = 239–254|year = 2004|last1 = Nyanzi|first1 = Stella|last2 = Nyanzi|first2 = Barbara|last3 = Kalina|first3 = Bessie|last4 = Pool|first4 = Robert|s2cid = 38275282}}{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691050410001731099|pmid = 16864185|title = Money, men and markets: Economic and sexual empowerment of market women in southwestern Uganda|journal = Culture, Health & Sexuality|volume = 7|pages = 13–26|year = 2005|last1 = Nyanzi|first1 = Barbara|last2 = Nyanzi|first2 = Stella|last3 = Wolff|first3 = Brent|last4 = Whitworth|first4 = James|issue = 1|s2cid = 35039601}}{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691050500245687|pmid = 16864222|title = Bumsters, big black organs and old white gold: Embodied racial myths in sexual relationships of Gambian beach boys|journal = Culture, Health & Sexuality|volume = 7|issue = 6|pages = 557–569|year = 2005|last1 = Nyanzi|first1 = Stella|last2 = Rosenberg-Jallow|first2 = Ousman|last3 = Bah|first3 = Ousman|last4 = Nyanzi|first4 = Susan|s2cid = 46270268}} She is also one of the first scholars to publish research on African homosexuality.{{Cite journal|last=Nyanzi|first=Stella|date=2013-07-19|title=Politicizing the 'Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah': Examining the Christian Rightists' War Against Homosexuality in Uganda|language=en|location=Rochester, NY|ssrn=2295792}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=enchBQAAQBAJ&q=info:sA8mBBju8RgJ:scholar.google.com&pg=PA61|title="Queering Queer Africa," in Reclaiming Afrikan: Queer Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Indentities by Zethu Matabeni|last=Nyanzi|first=Stella|date=2014-10-25|publisher=Modjaji Books|isbn=9781920590499|language=en}}{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/13691058.2013.798684|pmid = 23767462|title = Dismantling reified African culture through localised homosexualities in Uganda|journal = Culture, Health & Sexuality|volume = 15|issue = 8|pages = 952–967|year = 2013|last1 = Nyanzi|first1 = Stella|s2cid = 35568092}}

Activism

Nyanzi practices what scholars have called "radical rudeness," which is a traditional Ugandan strategy of calling the powerful to account through public insult.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ifex.org/uganda/2018/12/05/stella-nyanzi-profile/|title=Stella Nyanzi: Challenging power through "radical rudeness"|website=IFEX|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}{{Cite web|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-11-15-stella-nyanzi-the-formidable-feminist-foe-museveni-has-failed-to-silence/|title=Stella Nyanzi: The formidable feminist foe Museveni has failed to silence|last=Thomas|first=Kylie|website=The M&G Online|date=15 November 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} It was developed during the colonial era, as "a rude, publicly celebrated strategy of insults, scandal mongering, disruption, and disorderliness that broke conventions of colonial friendship, partnership, and mutual benefit."Summers, Carol. "Radical Rudeness: Ugandan Social Critiques in the 1940s." Journal of Social History, vol. 39, no. 3, 2006, pp. 741–770. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3790288.

Nyanzi has campaigned for the rights of Ugandan women, youth, and LGBTQIA+ people.{{Cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/stella-nyanzi-the-formidable-feminist-foe-museveni-has-failed-to-silence-107017|title=Stella Nyanzi: the formidable feminist foe Museveni has failed to silence|last=Thomas|first=Kylie|website=The Conversation|date=15 November 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}

On 6 March 2017, Nyanzi launched the Pads4girlsUg Project, due to her concerns about girls missing school because they could not afford menstrual products. She collected thousands of re-usable pads and distributed them to school girls and also offered lectures to school children about menstrual health.{{cite web|title=Fury over arrest of academic who called Uganda's president a pair of buttocks|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/apr/13/stella-nyanzi-fury-arrest-uganda-president-a-pair-of-buttocks-yoweri-museveni-cyber-harassment|website=The Guardian|date=13 April 2017}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211210/RlFzK179BGo Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20211120163247/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlFzK179BGo Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlFzK179BGo| title = #PMLIVE: Dr. Stella Nyanzi Launches the #PADS4GIRLSUG Campaign | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

Arrest

In March 2017, Nyanzi referred to President Museveni as "a pair of buttocks."{{cite web|url=https://pen-international.org/news/uganda-must-release-academic-stella-nyanzi-and-drop-all-charges-against-her|title=PEN International - Uganda must release academic Stella Nyanzi and drop all charges against her|website=PEN International|date=12 November 2018|access-date=26 March 2019}}

On 7 April 2017, Nyanzi was arrested and detained by police at Kiira Police Station on charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication.{{cite web|url=http://theinsider.ug/index.php/2017/04/10/nyanzi-charged-of-cyber-harassment-subjected-to-medical-examination/|title=Nyanzi charged of cyber harassment, subjected to medical examination|website=The Insider|date=10 April 2017 |access-date=10 April 2017}} On 10 April 2017, she was thereafter produced in court, where she was charged with the misuse of a computer, cyber harassment, and abusing the president under section 24, and 25 of the Computer Misuse Act of 2011.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Stella-Nyanzi--remanded-Yoweri-Museveni/1066-4890134-10qssupz/index.html|title=Stella Nyanzi to stay longer in remand|website=Daily Nation|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} She was then remanded to Luzira Prison. On 11 April 2017, doctors from Butabika Hospital were asked to carry out a psychiatric assessment examination to determine whether she was insane, as the government prosecutor was alleging. However, she resisted the examination and requested that her personal doctor and at least one family member should be present if they want to carry out a medical test on her.{{cite web|title=Who is Stella Nyanzi? Biography, CV, background, marriage, career and war against Museveni|url=http://ugblizz.com/stella-nyanzi-biography-cv-background-marriage-career-war-museveni/|website=Ug Blizz|access-date=12 April 2017}}

On 10 May 2017, Nyanzi was released on a USh {{shilingi|10,000,000}} (US${{To USD|10000000|UGA|year=2016|round=yes}}) non cash bail.{{cite web|title=Uganda: Dr Stella Nyanzi Released on Bail|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201705100617.html|website=All Africa|first=Betty|last= Ndagire|date=10 May 2017|access-date=10 May 2017}}{{cite web|title=Dr Stella Nyanzi released on bail|url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Nyanzi-returns-court-today/688334-3920712-3em3w8/index.html|website=Daily Monitor|date=15 January 2021}}{{cite web|title=Activist who called Ugandan president a 'pair of buttocks ' gets bail|url=http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/activist-who-called-president-museveni-pair-of-buttocks-gets-bail-20170510|website=News24|access-date=10 May 2017}} In October 2018, she was remanded to prison.{{Cite web|url=https://observer.ug/news/headlines/59504-i-feel-safer-in-prison-stella-nyanzi|title=I feel safer in prison – Stella Nyanzi|last=BATTE|first=BAKER|website=The Observer - Uganda|date=19 December 2018 |language=en-gb|access-date=2019-01-07}} She did not request bail because she believed she was safer in jail and because she wanted to continue her education work with the women in prison.{{Cite web|url=https://observer.ug/news/headlines/59147-nyanzi-rejects-bail-sent-back-to-luzira|title=Nyanzi rejects bail, sent back to Luzira|last=URN|website=The Observer - Uganda|date=9 November 2018 |language=en-gb|access-date=2019-01-07}}{{Cite web|url=https://76crimes.com/2018/12/24/christmas-in-prison-for-outspoken-ugandan-gay-ally/|title=Christmas in prison for outspoken Ugandan gay ally|last=admin76crimes|date=2018-12-24|website=Erasing 76 Crimes|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-07}} In December 2018, her lawyer attacked the charges as unlawful.{{Cite web|url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Dr-Stella-Nyanzi-spend-Christmas-Luzira-prison/688334-4902486-1per72z/index.html|title=Dr Stella Nyanzi to spend Christmas in Luzira prison|website=Daily Monitor|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}

In January 2019, Nyanzi asked that her court date be delayed as she was ill and had suffered a miscarriage in prison. On August 2, 2019, she exposed her breasts in protest at a sentencing.{{Cite news|date=2019-08-02|title=Uganda's Stella Nyanzi bares breasts in protest at jail sentence|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49210281|access-date=2021-09-17}}

Reputation and reception

File:PMLive - STELLA NYANZI REMANDED TO LUZIRA FOR INSULTING PRESIDENT MUSEVENIS MOTHER 480p.webm

The international press has called her "one of Africa's most prominent gender rights activists," "a leading scholar in the emerging field of African queer studies," and a leader in the fight against "repressive anti-queer laws" and for "freedom of speech." Her scholarship has provided "insight into the effects of patriarchy, misogyny and homophobia in Uganda, The Gambia, and Tanzania." Some consider her arrest as having more to do with her status as a gay ally than other factors.An international outcry followed Stella Nyanzi's arrest, with human rights groups condemning the act as a violation of academic freedom and freedom of expression. Amnesty International called for Uganda to drop the "absurd charges" against her.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/uganda-drop-absurd-charges-against-academic-stella-nyanzi/|title=Uganda contravenes constitution in Stella Nyanzi case|website=www.amnesty.org|date=19 December 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} Pen International, the writer's organization, also condemned her arrest.{{Cite web|url=https://pensouthafrica.co.za/pen-sa-condemns-re-arrest-in-uganda-of-dr-stella-nyanzi/|title=PEN SA Condemns Re-Arrest in Uganda of Dr Stella Nyanzi {{!}} PEN South Africa|last=Mulgrew|first=Nick|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-07}} Human Rights Watch condemned her arrest as "an indicator that those who express critical views of the Ugandan government, especially the first family, can face its wrath."{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/academic-stella-nyanzi-charged-cyber-harassment-170410183134831.html|title=Academic Stella Nyanzi charged with 'cyber harassment' {{!}} Uganda News {{!}} Al Jazeera|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2019-01-07}}

International news agencies have reported on the reasons for her arrest as political. NPR reported that her arrest was for giving hope "that the powerless can take on the powerful."{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/05/08/609390039/she-strips-she-swears-she-goes-to-jail-for-the-good-of-her-country|title=She Strips, She Swears, She Goes To Jail ... For The Good Of Her Country|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} The Washington Post reported that her arrest was for being an "outspoken anti-Museveni activist."Max Bearak, 12 April 2017, "This professor called her president ‘a pair of buttocks.’ Now she’s in a maximum security prison." The Washington Post. Al Jazeera English reported that her arrest was due to Museveni's plans to rule for life and his intolerance of critics. The Canadian Globe and Mail reported that her arrest was "at the heart of it all it [about] her imaginative use of language and her fierce defiance of the perceived limits for Ugandan women."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ugandan-scholar-stella-nyanzi-the-woman-who-tickled-the-leopard/article35159152/|title=Stella Nyanzi: The woman who used Facebook to take on Uganda's president|first=Geoffrey|last=York|work=The Globe and Mail|date=30 May 2017|access-date=2019-01-07}} The Guardian reported that her "attack on her government’s refusal to fund sanitary wear for girls led to a successful crowdfunding campaign, and prison."

In Uganda, she has a large number of supporters, with the largest social media following of any Ugandan.{{Cite web|url=https://observer.ug/viewpoint/59557-how-stella-nyanzi-challenges-our-public-use-of-reason|title=How Stella Nyanzi challenges our public use of reason|last=Serunkuma|first=Yusuf|website=The Observer - Uganda|language=en-gb|date=2 January 2019|access-date=2019-01-07}} Many collected food for her in prison.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ntv.co.ug/news/national/Stella-Nyanzi-fans-demand-for-her-release-/4522324-4899102-14dxfhbz/index.html|title=Stella Nyanzi fans collect foodstuffs, want activist freed on|last=nationmedia 2017|website=NTV|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} Ugandan scholars have praised her as standing up against "our tormentors."{{Cite web|last=BEST SHOOTS|title=Dr Besigye speaks out on Stella Nyanzi Museveni wants to End her Life|website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrWT77YeptA|access-date=2019-01-08}} Her lawyer Isaac Kimaze Semakadde was named "most outstanding public interest litigation lawyer in Uganda" by the Uganda Law Society, in part for his work on this case.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.ug/isaac-semakadde-legal-rebel-anti-clockwise-thinker/|title=Isaac Semakadde; Legal rebel Anti-clockwise thinker | newspaper=The Independent | date=16 May 2018 |access-date=14 February 2019 }}

In Uganda, "strong cultural taboos against talking openly and graphically about sex and sexuality" exist and "homosexuality is illegal and sex education is banned in schools." However, Nyanzi speaks "openly - and colourfully - about sex, genitalia and politics. For this, she is adored by many of her fellow citizens but viewed with distaste by some of Uganda's more conservative elements."

Exile

On 30 January 2021, Nyanzi arrived in Nairobi, Kenya by bus, and through her lawyer, Professor George Luchiri Wajackoyah, sought asylum in Kenya, on account of political persecution by the Museveni-led government in Uganda.{{cite web| newspaper=The East African | url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/ugandan-activist-stella-nyanzi-flees-to-kenya-3278594 | title=Ugandan activist Stella Nyanzi flees to Kenya |date=3 February 2021 |author=Washington Gikunju |access-date=4 February 2021 |location=Nairobi}} In January 2022, she was accepted to live in Germany on a writers-in-exile programme run by PEN Germany, with her three children. While she appreciated the freedom and protection against threats and persecution in Uganda, she wants to return one day, to contribute towards creating a future Uganda after the Museveni era.