Police beat, detain journalists covering opposition candidates ahead of Uganda elections
Nairobi, January 7, 2021 – Ugandan security forces should stop harassing and attacking journalists, and should ensure that the press can freely cover the country’s upcoming elections, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since December 11, security officers have assaulted at least 10 journalists covering opposition events ahead of the country’s January 14 presidential…
Journalists in Uganda face accreditation hurdles ahead of election, risk criminal sanction
Nairobi, December 23, 2020 — Ugandan authorities should ensure that members of the press can freely cover the country’s national elections on January 14, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 10, the Media Council of Uganda, a statutory body, said that local and foreign journalists would be barred from covering electoral events…
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering Uganda’s elections
On January 14, 2021, incumbent Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will seek a sixth term, amid challenges from opposition candidates Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, and Patrick Oboi Amuriat, according to multiple news reports. During the general election campaign, security personnel have arrested both candidates and violently dispersed political rallies and protests, according to…
Journalists attacked, deported ahead of January elections in Uganda
Nairobi, December 11, 2020 — Ugandan authorities should ensure that journalists can cover the country’s upcoming elections safely and freely and should thoroughly investigate all attacks on the press by members of the public and by security forces, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since early November, police officers and members of the public…
Local officials arrested, attacked, and confiscated equipment of radio journalists in western Uganda
Between April 3, 2020, and May 28, 2020, officials in the western Uganda district of Kabale arrested journalist Rogers Asiimwe of Freedom Radio; assaulted journalist Bob Rumanzi, also of Freedom Radio; and temporarily confiscated the phone of Richard Akandwanaho, then of Voice of Kigezi radio, the journalists told CPJ in interviews via messaging apps. …
Ugandan journalist Moses Bwayo charged with illegal assembly, held in prison
Nairobi, March 4, 2020—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Uganda to drop all charges and to immediately release freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker Moses Bwayo, to return his equipment undamaged, and to allow him to continue his work without intimidation.
Ugandan commentator arrested over Facebook post critical of president
On July 12, 2019, plainclothes police in Kireka, a suburb of Kampala, Uganda’s capital, arrested Joseph Kabuleta, a local minister and former reporter who regularly posts political commentary on social media, for allegedly posting “offensive communication against the person of the President” online, according to a July 12 police statement reviewed by CPJ and Fred…
