KAMPALA – Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni, has ordered the shutdown of some of the country’s leading independent media outlets, declaring that he does not believe in a free press.
The affected outlets—NTV Uganda, Spark TV and the Daily Monitor, all owned by the Kenya-based Nation Media Group (NMG)—were forced off the air on Sunday after armed security personnel surrounded the company’s offices in Kampala, disrupting television broadcasts and newspaper operations.
In a series of posts on X, Kainerugaba announced that NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor were being shut down and insisted they would not resume operations without his approval.
“In Uganda, I do not believe in a free press. The press should be guided by cadres of the revolution,” the army chief wrote, without providing a specific legal justification for the action.
Viewers attempting to access NTV Uganda and Spark TV were met with blank screens or “video unavailable” messages, while reports indicated that security operatives prevented staff from entering or leaving the media group’s premises.
The shutdown has triggered widespread concern among media rights advocates, who describe the move as one of the most significant crackdowns on press freedom in Uganda in recent years.
Kainerugaba, who has frequently courted controversy through his social media posts and is widely viewed as a potential successor to his father, has previously made inflammatory remarks against political opponents. His latest directive has renewed concerns over shrinking civic space and increasing state control of the media.
Neither the Ugandan government nor Nation Media Group had issued a detailed statement explaining the legal basis for the closures as of Sunday.
