Uganda army chief shuts down media group amid widespread curb on free speech
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, activists and now a media shutdown.
"NTV and Moniter (sic) are being shut down from today!" Kainerugaba wrote on social media platform X, referring to NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor, both part of the Nation Media Group.
"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.
The stations went off air in the early hours of Sunday, with local media reporting that the broadcasts displayed the message: "Video unavailable."
'Troubling escalation'
Kainerugaba confirmed on X that the orders had been approved by his father, who has ruled Uganda for 40 years.
Museveni, 81, won another term in January but many see his son as positioning himself to take over.
The Daily Monitor was launched in 1992 and became one of Uganda's most influential independent newspapers and has often been seen as an irritation by Museveni's government.
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The paper was shut down for 13 days in 2013 after reporting on an alleged plot to prepare Kainerugaba to take over from his father.
The Africa programme of the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Sunday's shutdown, calling the "use of state security forces to carry out publicly announced threats against independent media... a deeply troubling escalation."
Kainerugaba has insisted the outlets "will not re-open without my permission."
"From now on ALL media in Uganda will follow the rules!" he said on X.
Uganda ranked a lowly 143 out of 180 countries worldwide in 2025 on the media watchdog Reporters without Borders press freedom index.
(with AFP)