NATIONAL | Ugandan lawyer and journalist Agather Atuhaire has been recognised as one of the 100 emerging leaders shaping the future in the 2024 TIME100 Next list..
Lawyer and journalist Atuhaire is recognised under the theme of the 'Advocates'.
The TIME100 Next honours leaders from around the world who are making a significant impact and defining the next generation of leadership.
Reacting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Ms Atuhaire expressed her excitement, saying, "What an honour to be named among the top 100 individuals defining the next generation of leadership!"
The third global recognition in two years left Ms Atuhaire unable to resist partying overtures from colleagues and friends, she told the Nile Post, who celebrated her new achievement late into Wednesday night.
In 2023, Ms Atuhaire was feted by the European Union after she won the Human Rights Defenders Award.
Earlier in March, she was one of 13 women from across the world who were hosted by US First Lady Jill Biden as the State Department recognised the International Women of Courage.
In its fifth year, the TIME100 Next, according to Sam Jacobs, editor in chief at TIME, was created to recognise that many of today’s most influential leaders are, "individuals who are not waiting long in life to make an impact".
"Nor are they eager to respect the status quo by following the traditional power structures and pathways that have determined what influence looked like in the past," Jacobs said in his explanatory notes on how they picked the TIME100 Next.
He said TIME100 Next has no age requirements - the youngest being 18-year-old Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh - its aim is to recognise that influence does not have them either, nor does leadership look like it once did.
The majority of the individuals on this year’s list are leaders of colour; more than half are women.
Jacobs added: "We aim with this annual franchise to recognise rising leaders in health, climate, business, sports, and more—and by doing so, not just show the stories that are capturing headlines in 2024, but also introduce you to the people who we believe will play an important role in leading the future."
As with the original TIME100, alumni and other leaders were invited to write tributes to this year’s honorees.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, paid a glowing tribute to Ms Atuhaire, whom he said wears many hats as a journalist, lawyer, human-rights activist, and a whistle-blower.
Chagutah said Atuhaire has worked as a journalist and used social media activism to expose maladministration, high-profile corruption, and malfeasance by public officials in Uganda.
"As co-leader of a powerful and growing online human-rights movement called AGORA, Agather uses social media to crowdsource information on rights abuses by those in power, and to demand accountability from government, parliament, and civil society in Uganda," he said.
Working with scholar and renowned editorial cartoonist and columnist Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo and lawyer Godwin Toko, Ms Atuhaire has stood up to public officials, especially politicians.
Using social media, the trio has pushed the ceiling for accountability issues, especially among politicians.
Their exposes on disservice and rot in various public sectors have become a staple for meme.
But the crusade has come at some cost, with those poked by the exposes sending veiled or direct threats, while others attempted to bite back through proxies.
Both Ms Atuhaire and Dr Ssentongo have previously spoken about threats to their lives while more recently, a group of social media activists suddenly ganged up against the trio, demanding accountabilityfor funds they received for their Agora activities.
But the latest recognition, like those before them, will only toughen Ms Atuhaire's resolve further for, like Arthur Koestler depicted of his protagonist Rubashov in the highly acclaimed novel, Darkness At Noon, she is "made of a certain metal that becomes harder the more you hit it".
Chagutah tribute said Ms Atuhaire's powerful activism stands out especially in Uganda, where female human-rights defenders have been targeted by authorities with trumped-up charges, arrests, and convictions based on draconian cyberlaws.
"Agather’s incredible courage will continue to be a formidable challenge to public institutions and officials that have long conducted themselves with impunity in Uganda," he said.
Ms Atuhaire is now scheduled to celebrate Uganda's 62nd Independence Anniversary on October 9 from New York where TIME will host the fourth-annual TIME100 Next event to celebrate the individuals spotlighted on the 2024 list.
