By RSF-Reporters Without Borders
The media outlets of Nation Media Group (NMG), Uganda’s leading independent media network, were shut down by the military the night of 27 June on the orders of General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces and son of President Yoweri Museveni. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this unprecedented attack on the press and calls for the immediate reopening of all affected outlets.
Lightning has struck Uganda’s media landscape. Just hours after the country’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, posted on X that the president had “approved [his] plan to close both NTV and Monitor,” soldiers were deployed overnight to Nation Media Group’s headquarters and to the Kampala studios of the group’s television stations NTV Uganda and Spark TV. Troops took up positions outside the premises of the country’s leading media group and one of the largest in East Africa, blocked access to the buildings and cut off electricity.
These television channels were taken off the air without any official explanation, as were the group's radio stations, KFM and Dembe FM, as well as the weekly newspaper The East African and the Daily Monitor, the country's most widely read independent daily newspaper. In the weeks leading up to the shutdown, NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor had published investigations into the arrests of opposition figures, lawyers and human rights defenders in cases in which General Muhoozi Kainerugaba was directly implicated. According to a journalist from the media group who requested anonymity, an article published on 8 June concerning Janet Kataaha Museveni, President Museveni’s wife and General Kainerugaba’s mother, also angered the authorities.
“For a long time, we had been receiving warnings on X about how our outlets cover events in the country. When we ask for accountability or report on human rights issues, the authorities do not like it,” Solomon Kaweesa, News Producer and Manager, News and Planning at Nation Media Group, told RSF. “However, we resumed our activities online yesterday, through digital platforms and social media, working remotely,” he added.
“I DO NOT believe in a free press!” General Muhoozi Kainerugaba wrote on X. Since the shutdown, he has continued to post hostile messages, including: “I hear both NTV and Daily Monitor are losing 5 million dollars a day from my closure. That's Good News for me,” “Both NTV and Monitor will not re-open without my permission,” “They wake up and realise my threats were real all along,” and “From now on ALL media in Uganda will follow the rules!” He also ordered the arrest of NMG Managing Director Susan Nsibirwa before reversing his decision a few hours later. His latest X post on the matter, published on 28 June, referred to “discussions about re-opening both NTV and Daily Monitor.
“A dangerous line has just been crossed in Uganda. The head of the army’s decision to publicly order the closure of the country’s leading independent media group, deploy soldiers outside its newsrooms and make its reopening contingent upon his personal approval constitutes an unprecedented escalation in the repression of the media. RSF strongly condemns this military operation against Nation Media Group, as well as Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s openly hostile statements towards press freedom, and calls for the immediate reopening of all affected media outlets.
The shutdown was carried out without any regulatory oversight by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the body responsible for notifying media outlets of any sanctions related to their content. The Commission stated that it had initiated “consultations with the relevant government stakeholders” and urged “the public to remain calm.” However, no UCC representative has contacted the media network since the shutdown. RSF attempted to reach two of the Commission’s senior officials but received no response.
Extremely serious statements condemned by RSF
This is not the first time Muhoozi Kainerugaba has targeted the media. In December 2022, he threatened on Twitter (now X) to “crush” journalists who “insulted” him and described Daily Monitor journalists as “terrorists (...) that have been abusing us forever.” In 2013, the newspaper had been suspended for 13 days after reporting on an alleged plan to prepare Muhoozi Kainerugaba to succeed his father.
