Ugandan Military Shuts Down Nation Media Group Outlets Following General Muhoozi’s Directives
General Muhoozi, the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) for the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), has overseen the closure of several Nation Media Group (NMG) outlets in Uganda, including the Daily Monitor, NTV, KFM, Dembe FM, and Spark TV. The military action follows the General’s public statements expressing discomfort with the media house’s reporting on his operations and alleged insults directed at his family.
Why were NMG outlets shut down in Uganda?
The closures were triggered by General Muhoozi’s objection to NMG outlets questioning the legality of his operations and reporting that targeted his family. General Muhoozi stated publicly that he does not believe in a free press and asserted that the media houses would not reopen without his explicit permission. The General, who is the 52-year-old son of President Yoweri Museveni, has openly stated his intention to be president after his father.
The crackdown coincided with the detention of journalists. Andrew Nabimanya, known as Ninye Tabz, and Timothy Kalyegira were both abducted. Nabimanya was reportedly held in an interrogation center referred to by the General as “my basement” before being released on bond and charged with ‘unauthorised disclosure of official information’.
What is the history of government conflict with Daily Monitor?
The current siege is not the first time the media house has clashed with Museveni’s government. President Museveni has frequently labeled the publication an ‘enemy newspaper’, a ‘bad newspaper’, and accused it of spreading rebel propaganda and compromising national security.
- 2002: The government shut down the Daily Monitor for one week after it reported that a UPDF chopper had been shot down by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. Security forces raided the newsroom and arrested journalist Frank Nyakairu. The paper reopened only after the editor, Charles Onyango Obbo, was removed from Kampala and re-stationed in Nairobi.
- 2005: KFM was closed following broadcasts by journalist Andrew Mwenda regarding the death of South Sudanese leader John Garang in a defective Ugandan helicopter.
- 2013: The Daily Monitor was shut down again after publishing a letter from General David Sejjusa alleging a plot to assassinate army officials who opposed the “Muhoozi project”—the grooming of the General for the presidency.
In a previous legal challenge against these shutdowns, the government was ordered to pay more than US $818,000 (UGX 3 billion) in damages to the newspaper, according to founder Wafula Ogutu.
How is the reopening process being handled?
The path to resuming operations is currently being mediated by Andrew Mwenda, a veteran journalist and former Daily Monitor employee who is now a close ally of General Muhoozi and a leader in the Patriotic League Uganda (PLU). Mwenda posted on X that he had held discussions with General Muhoozi and agreed that the Daily Monitor and NTV would reopen “soon,” provided that discussions first take place between PLU leaders and the management of the sister companies.
General Muhoozi reposted the message and echoed that the media houses would be reopened upon approval from his father, the president.
What are the institutional reactions to the crackdown?
On 30th June, 2026, WAN-IFRA and the World Editors Forum denounced the shutdown of Nation Media Group titles in Uganda and called on the government of President Yoweri Museveni to honour constitutional guarantees and international standards protecting media freedom and the safety of journalists.
The Nation Media Group is the largest independent media house in East and Central Africa. It is listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, the Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock exchange. The current silence of President Museveni, who has been at the apex of Ugandan politics since 1986, has left the exact timeline for the restoration of these services dependent on his pending approval.
