Uganda’s military on Sunday forced off the air two leading television stations and disrupted the country’s largest independent newspaper belonging to the Nation Media Group (NMG).
The operation followed a direct order from Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces and son of longtime President Yoweri Museveni.
Gen. Muhoozi announced the shutdown on social media at 1:07 a.m., writing that “NTV and Monitor are being shut down from today.”
Hours earlier, the general had warned that the outlets needed explicit clearance from President Museveni to continue operating. Security personnel moved in shortly after midnight, according to the Daily Monitor, confining staff inside the premises and blocking others from entering or leaving.
By around 5 a.m. local time, viewers tuning into NTV Uganda and Spark TV saw only blank screens with a “video unavailable” message. The broadcaster later posted images of soldiers stationed outside its offices.
NMG, East Africa’s largest independent media company and headquartered in Kenya, operates several platforms in Uganda, including NTV Uganda, Spark TV, the Daily Monitor newspaper, radio stations 93.3 KFM and 90.4 Dembe FM, and other publications. The sudden closure represents one of the most significant direct military interventions against private media in the country in recent years.
Opposition leader Bobi Wine condemned the action as an assault on remaining independent journalism. “Muhoozi, acting with his father’s full approval, has moved to silence Uganda’s remaining independent voices by shutting down NTV Uganda, Daily Monitor, Dembe FM and Spark TV,” he said.
Wine described the episode as “the harsh reality we now face, a country under open military rule, where fear replaces law and force replaces accountability.”
The shutdown follows a pattern of public statements by Gen. Muhoozi on social media threatening long-term restrictions on the outlets’ ability to cover President Museveni.
“NTV and Daily Monitor are closed for good,” Muhoozi had tweeted at the time of publishing.
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