New York, March 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is very troubled by the recent harassment of journalists at the independent radio station Choice FM in the town of Gulu, in Uganda’s war-scarred north. Police accused the station of being a security threat after a talk show last Wednesday featuring opposition and ruling party candidates…
New York, February 24, 2006—The Monitor Group said today its news Web site and radio station were being blocked within Uganda to prevent them from publishing early results from polling stations in Thursday’s crucial presidential election. Readers were unable to access the Web site of Uganda’s leading independent daily, The Monitor, and broadcasts of station…
New York, February 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the Ugandan government has blocked internal access to a critical Web site, Radio Katwe, in the run-up to Thursday’s hotly contested presidential election. The site has been blocked in Uganda for more than a week, according to news reports and local journalists. The…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by your government’s recent efforts to influence journalists’ coverage of Uganda. Government officials have recently said that the accreditation of foreign journalists–previously an apolitical process–is tied to an official evaluation of the journalists’ work. This attempt to deter foreign reporters from filing critical reports is particularly troubling in the run-up to the February presidential election, an event deserving of full international attention.
DECEMBER 13, 2005 Posted: Jauary 23, 2006 James Tumusiime, The Weekly ObserverSsemujju Ibrahim Nganda, The Weekly Observer HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Editor Tumusiime and reporter Nganda of the privately owned newspaper The Weekly Observer were summoned to a police station in the capital, Kampala, where they were held for about five hours and charged with “promoting…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by restrictions on media freedom in Uganda following the November 14 arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Your Excellency’s government has instructed journalists not to comment on or discuss Besigye’s upcoming trials on treason, terrorism and rape charges. Ugandan troops today barred journalists from attending Besigye’s court hearing in the capital Kampala, according to Agence France-Presse. Police have also recently harassed staff members of the independent daily The Monitor, impeded its circulation, and threatened to close it down altogether.
NOVEMBER 15, 2005 POSTED: December 2, 2005 The Monitor HARASSED The government has threatened to close Uganda’s leading independent daily The Monitor over a story about President Yoweri Museveni’s first choice for army chief. Conrad Nkutu, managing director of The Monitor, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that the authorities demanded that the paper retract…
New York, November 15, 2005—The government has threatened to close Uganda’s leading independent daily The Monitor over a story about President Yoweri Museveni’s first choice for army chief. Conrad Nkutu, managing director of The Monitor, told the Committee to Protect Journalists today that the authorities demanded that the paper retract the story and apologize. Nkutu…
New York, August 19, 2005—Independent radio station KFM was allowed back on the air Thursday after paying a fine of 4.95 million Ugandan shillings (US$2,700) for allegedly violating minimum broadcast standards, according to the station’s managing director. KFM had been closed for a week over on-air remarks by talk show host Andrew Mwenda, who blamed…
AUGUST 12-15, 2005 Updated: December 1, 2005 Andrew Mwenda, Monitor Publications IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION An independent radio and print journalist was arrested on August 12 in connection with a talk show on KFM radio focusing on the July helicopter crash that killed southern Sudanese leader John Garang. Andrew Mwenda, a journalist with Monitor Publications, was…