Uganda’s military chief, who can also be the president’s son, mentioned on Sunday he had ordered the closure of two main media outlets, declaring that he did “not believe in a free press.”
Muhoozi Kainerugaba mentioned the Daily Monitor – Uganda’s largest unbiased each day newspaper – and NTV Uganda, one of the nation’s largest non-public broadcasters, would “not re-open without my permission.”
“In Uganda, I do not believe in a free press! The press should be guided by cadres of the revolution,” Kainerugaba wrote in a collection of posts on the X platform.
He didn’t give particular causes for closing the media outlets, each of that are owned by Nation Media Group (NMG) NMG.NR, a media conglomerate headquartered in Kenya and listed on the Nairobi inventory alternate.
The Daily Monitor reported on Sunday that military personnel had been deployed at NMG’s premises within the capital, Kampala, and that workers have been being prevented from leaving or getting into the premises.
NTV Uganda and different NMG TV and radio broadcasters within the nation have been all down as of Sunday morning.
Ugandan authorities spokesperson Alan Kasujja didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.
Susan Nsibirwa, managing director for NMG in Uganda, mentioned she didn’t have a direct remark.
Kainerugaba, who has been touted as a potential successor to his ageing father, President Yoweri Museveni, is well-known for his controversial social media posts together with threats to behead the main opposition chief Bobi Wine.
In 2013, the federal government of Museveni, who has dominated the nation since 1986, shut down the Daily Monitor for 10 days over stories relating to his succession.