{"id":105150,"date":"2025-12-02T22:49:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=105150"},"modified":"2025-12-02T22:49:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:49:28","slug":"zambian-american-influencer-sentenced-to-18-months-for-hate-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=105150","title":{"rendered":"Zambian-American influencer sentenced to 18 months for hate speech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 6 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

A Zambian-American influencer and political vlogger has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for hate speech for making insulting remarks about Zambia\u2019s President Hakainde Hichilema.<\/p>\n

Zambian-born Ethel Chisono Edwards, who also holds US citizenship and works as an estate agent in New York, has a large following across various social media accounts. Known as \u201cOne Boss Lady\u201d, she has become renowned for her rants about the president over the last two years.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old was arrested at Zambia\u2019s main airport three months ago after arriving to attend her grandmother\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n

She pleaded guilty in a magistrate\u2019s court in the capital, Lusaka, and apologised to the president for her comments.<\/p>\n

But Magistrate Webster Milumbe said the court had a duty to send a strong warning, noting that hate speech had become increasingly common.<\/p>\n

Edwards, who has been in police custody since her arrest, was convicted under the Cyber Security Act and the Cyber Crimes Act \u2013 new legislation that came into effect this year.<\/p>\n

She admitted to using a computer system to publish the offensive statements, acknowledged having no lawful excuse and conceded that her words were motivated by hatred.<\/p>\n

Her lawyer, Joseph Katati, described Edwards as a remorseful first offender with potential.<\/p>\n

He went on to detail how she was a breadwinner and philanthropist who sponsored a Zambian girls\u2019 football team that would suffer from her imprisonment.<\/p>\n

He also delivered a detailed public apology on her behalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to unreservedly apologise to the president, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, his family, and the nation of Zambia for the words that I uttered against the president and for the negative effects that those words may have caused to the president, his family, and the nation at large,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Throughout her court appearances, Edwards appeared subdued \u2013 a stark contrast to her online persona.<\/p>\n

The magistrate acknowledged Mr Katati\u2019s plea for mitigation and said Edwards\u2019s sentence would be effective from the time of her arrest.<\/p>\n

Mr Katati said he had not yet received instructions from his client on whether to appeal against the sentence.<\/p>\n

The jailing of the influencer has divided opinion in Zambia, with some saying it was necessary while others arguing that it violates freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

Hichilema, who came to office in 2021, has abolished criminal defamation laws against the president, but Zambians still face prosecution under other laws.<\/p>\n

In September, two men were sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to use witchcraft to kill President Hichilema.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"Zambian-AmericanA Zambian-American influencer and political vlogger has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for hate speech for making insulting remarks about Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,8472,7529,13278,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-hate-speech","category-influencer","category-political-vlogger","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}