The head of the Ugandan Army and also son of President Yoweri Museveni, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has ordered the closure in Ugandan territory of the delegations of one of East Africa's main media groups, Nation Media Group, affecting the broadcasts of the NTV channel —whose main headquarters are located in Kenya— and the newspaper "Daily Monitor".
NTV Uganda has confirmed in a statement that its offices, as well as those of "Daily Monitor", are surrounded by military personnel following Kainerugaba's instruction, and has disseminated a video showing soldiers stationed in front of its building in the capital, Kampala. Among the media outlets also affected are the radio stations Dembe FM, Spark TV, and KFM.
General Kainerugaba has not offered further details on the decision, beyond emphasizing that all media in the country "must follow the rules". "I do not believe in a free press," stated the military officer, famous for his controversial interventions on social media, where he has even "joked" about torturing opposition leaders.
"From now on, all bad stories about Uganda will have to be approved by my office," added the general, who in 2022 accused Kenya of interfering in Ugandan politics and even threatened to take control of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, "in less than two weeks".
Nation Media Group's subsidiaries have years of tensions with the Executive. In 2005, they were banned from covering the presidential and parliamentary elections, while in 2013, "Daily Monitor", along with Dembe FM and KFM, were shut down for more than a week after the newspaper published information about an alleged plan to assassinate political and military officials opposed to Kainerugaba's aspirations to succeed his father.