On October 13, 2026, Arnold Anthony Mukose, program director of the online outlet Alternative Digitalk, was detained while seeking to recover personal belongings confiscated during a March raid on his home in the capital Kampala.
Officers at Old Kampala Police Station informed Mukose that an arrest warrant had been issued against him as that earlier case — which had been dismissed in August — had been reinstated, the journalist’s lawyer, Kato Tumusiime, told CPJ.
On October 16, 2026, Mukose was released on bail and ordered not to comment on the matter until it was resolved, the Uganda Journalists Association said in a video showing Mukose being released. The matter is due to be heard on November 10, the Uganda Journalists Association said.
On March 29, 2026, men in plainclothes snatched Mukose off the street in the Ugandan capital, Kampala and detained for five weeks on allegations that he published false information about the health of First Lady Janet Museveni.
He was pushed into a Toyota Noah minivan waiting outside the main gate of Metro FM 90.8, according to media reports. A police search certificate showed that the police took Mukose’s ID card, passport, a modem, laptop, and two smart watches from his house on March 29, in his presence.
Mukose was held in an undisclosed location for three days. On April 1, he was produced at Kampala’s LDC Chief Magistrate’s Court and charged, along with "others still at large," with publishing "fake news" and "a false distress signal" that "the First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni is dead," according to the March 31 charge sheet, reviewed by CPJ.
Ugandans had been publicly speculating about the First Lady's recent absence from official engagements. CPJ was unable to verify the existence or content of the alleged report.
In a statement on April 1, Alternative Digitalk rejected the charges as “deceitful, misleading and malicious” and challenged authorities to “produce evidence of our organization's social media posts, videos or statements declaring the death of the individual as is on the charge sheet.”
The Uganda Communications Commission’s 2019 Licensing Regulations stipulate fines of up to 960,000 shillings (US$266) and/or up to two years' imprisonment for “publishing fake news.” Under Uganda’s 2013 Communications Act, a first-time offender convicted of “sending false distress signals” faces a fine of up to 600,000 shillings (US$160).
On May 5, Mukose was granted bail after more than five weeks in detention.
On August 24, a magistrate dismissed the case after the prosecution informed the court that the case’s file was missing and they had yet to amend the charge sheet, as directed, Mukose told CPJ.
Alternative Digitalk described Mukose as its most senior journalist who has worked in the profession for over 15 years. He hosted talk shows, provided political commentary, and published analysis on national developments prior to becoming program director.
In 2022, authorities raided Alternative Digitalk’s offices and charged two of its staff with “offensive communication,” under a provision of the Computer Misuse Act that was later struck down, and cyberstalking.
CPJ did not receive responses to its requests for comment, sent via messaging app in October 2026, to the minister for the presidency Babirye Milly Babalanda and Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson Rachael Kawala.