A Free Press Is Not Obtainable Here – Museveni’s Son

Uganda’s army chief said on Sunday that he did not subscribe to a free press and ordered an independent media group to shut its newspaper, TV station and radio outlets.

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the head of Uganda’s military and President Yoweri Museveni’s son, has asserted growing control in recent months, ordering the arrests of politicians and activists.

“NTV and Moniter are being shut down from today!” Kainerugaba wrote on X, referring to Nation Media Group’s NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor — which he misspelled.

“In Uganda, I DO NOT believe in a free press! The press should be guided by cadres of the revolution,” he added.

The Daily Monitor said on X that it was under “military siege”, with armed soldiers on guard outside its offices in the capital Kampala.

Its other outlets, including Dembe FM, Spark TV, KFM, and The East African, were also affected.

“We’ve been shut down by the military at both NTV studios and offices…No one is allowed in or out. Those who worked last night were ordered to leave by the military,” a senior NTV reporter told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Leading rights group Agora has been summoned to appear before police on Tuesday over allegations of fraud and money laundering, while lawyer Erias Lukwago, who represents opposition leader Kizza Besigye, was arrested and charged with complicity in treason.

The military raid was carried out at 1:00 am local time early Sunday, causing “electricity disconnection and disruption of operations,” NMG said in a statement.

The 52-year-old general ordered police to arrest NMG Managing Director Susan Nsibirwa “on sight”, though he retracted his order soon after, saying government spokesman Alan Kasujja had intervened and would deal with her.

This is so unfortunate as media repression is still rife in Africa despite the penetration of ‘democracy.’

The attack on the Ugandan media is highly condemnable by democracy lovers as it is the duty of the press to hold the government of the day accountable. The responsibility of the media is to ensure that the government doesn’t become tyrannical.

Uganda isn’t the only African nation where journalists face repression; all over the African Continent, it is the same ugly trend of suffocation by the governments of the day.

We call for the immediate re-opening of the shut down outlets in Uganda as well as the payment of damages to the affected media houses for loss of revenue and psychological damages.

Enough of this shabby and rogue treatment!