Uganda's army chief orders Nation Media Group outlets off air
NTV Uganda and Spark TV were forced off air before dawn on Sunday after an overnight security operation at Nation Media Group’s Kampala premises, carried out on the orders of Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Daily Monitor reported . Viewers were met with blank screens, and the group’s other outlets — including the Daily Monitor newspaper, KFM and Dembe FM — were also affected.
The shutdown followed a series of posts in which Muhoozi, President Yoweri Museveni’s son, vowed to act against the company. “In Uganda, I DO NOT believe in a free press! The press should be guided by cadres of the revolution,” he wrote. He said the order had been approved by his father, who has held power for four decades.
The move concentrates control over Uganda’s largest independent media house in the hands of the military leadership ahead of a period of heightened political tension, and signals that the security apparatus is prepared to take critical outlets offline directly rather than through the courts or regulators. Nation Media Group, the East African media company that owns the affected platforms, had not announced a formal response at the time of reporting.