Military Chief Shuts Down Two Major Ugandan Media Outlets, Rejecting Press Freedom

The military commander of Uganda, who is also the son of the nation’s president, abruptly ordered the forced closure of two prominent media outlets in his country on Sunday (28/06/2026). This authoritarian move was taken after the four-star general openly declared to the public that he does not believe in the principles of press freedom.

Citing reports from CNN International on Monday (29/06/202<0xC2>6), military commander Muhoozi Kainerugaba asserted that the Daily Monitor, Uganda’s largest independent newspaper, and NTV Uganda, one of the country’s largest private broadcasting stations, will not be permitted to resume operations without his written permission.

Following the announcement, armed military personnel were immediately deployed to surround and occupy the office buildings of both media outlets in the capital, Kampala, prohibiting staff and journalists from entering or leaving the company premises.

“In Uganda, I do not believe in a free press! The press should be guided by revolutionary cadres,” Kainerugaba wrote in a series of controversial statements on the X platform.

This silencing action caused NTV Uganda and the entire commercial radio network owned by the parent company to go completely dark since Sunday morning, even though the military commander provided no specific legal justification for the closure.

Both Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja and the Managing Director of the media network, Susan Nsibirwa, have remained silent and declined to provide immediate comments regarding the military’s unilateral action.

Both frozen media outlets are under the umbrella of the Nation Media Group (NMG), a massive transnational media conglomerate headquartered in Kenya and officially listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Kainerugaba himself has frequently sparked global controversy through his social media posts, including issuing threats of the death penalty by beheading against Uganda’s main opposition figure, Bobi Wine.

Kainerugaba is currently considered a strong candidate to inherit the throne of power from his father, President Yoweri Museveni, who has held power and ruled Uganda with an iron fist since 1986.

This is not the first time the Daily Monitor has faced suppression; in 2013, the Museveni regime forcibly closed the independent newspaper for ten consecutive days after it dared to publish sensitive investigative reports regarding presidential succession plans.