Uganda military shuts down NTV, Daily Monitor in press siege

Armed soldiers sealed Nation Media Group’s headquarters in Kampala shortly after midnight on June 28, forcing NTV Uganda and Spark TV off air and interrupting Daily Monitor and four other outlets in one of Uganda’s starkest press confrontations in years. Staff said no one was being allowed to enter or leave the compound as the security deployment spread across the media group’s premises.

The shutdown hit at least six Nation Media Group Uganda outlets: NTV Uganda, Spark TV, Daily Monitor, Dembe FM, KFM and The EastAfrican. For a country where television, radio and print remain central to political debate, the interruption cut across news, talk radio and daily reporting at the same time, shutting down one of the most visible independent media networks in the capital.

Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s chief of defence forces and the son of President Yoweri Museveni, announced the shutdown on his X account. He said he did not believe in a free press and said media in Uganda would have to follow the rules and be guided by cadres of the revolution. The message left little room for doubt about intent: the military was not presenting itself as a regulator, but as the power deciding which journalism could continue.

The National Association of Broadcasters said it was concerned and was engaging authorities over the operation. The Institute for Justice and Accountability in Uganda called the deployment a military siege of the press. Opposition leader Bobi Wine condemned the move and said Muhoozi was acting with his father’s approval to silence critical voices.

The crackdown lands in a media landscape already under strain. Reporters Without Borders says Uganda has 301 radio stations, more than 30 TV channels, two daily newspapers and one weekly newspaper, and that journalists are regularly targeted by security services. In RSF’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index, Uganda ranked 131st out of 180 countries, up from 143rd in 2025.

The confrontation also recalled the 2013 raid on Daily Monitor, when security forces surrounded and closed the newspaper’s offices and sparked international alarm. For Ugandans trying to reach independent news, the latest operation showed how quickly military force can cut off the flow of information without changing a single media law.