Ugandan president, officials verbally attack and threaten media
Nairobi, June 18, 2018–Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni should stop making statements that denigrate and threaten the press, and ensure that his government does not take actions that conflate journalism with terrorism or national security threats, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
After disputed Uganda election, journalists fear prolonged crackdown
Twenty nine-year-old photographer Abubaker Lubowa was excited when he was assigned to cover the campaign of opposition leader Kizza Besigye. He told CPJ he did not anticipate that the assignment would mean he would make the news almost as often as he covered it.
Press trying to cover politics in Uganda face restrictions, attacks
January 15, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that journalists in Uganda are being prevented from freely covering Parliament and campaigning for next month’s presidential elections. The government announced this week that journalists without a university qualification will be barred from covering parliament, according to local reports. Journalists have also reported being attacked and…
Advertising and Censorship in East Africa’s Press
The printed word is thriving in parts of Africa, but advertisers’ clout means they can often quietly control what is published. By Tom Rhodes Kenyans read election coverage in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, the capital, on March 9, 2013. One reason that advertising revenue trumps circulation for East Africa’s newspapers is that readers often…
Monitor, Red Pepper closures spark protests in Uganda
Nairobi, May 29, 2013–Ugandan police on Tuesday assaulted and detained several journalists who were among a crowd of demonstrators protesting the government’s closure of four independent news outlets, according to news reports and local journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists said today that the police actions only highlight the government’s continuing effort to suppress information…
Police raid news outlets in media crackdown in Uganda
Nairobi, May 21, 2013–Ugandan police surrounded the Kampala offices of two private newspapers for seven hours on Monday, barring access to the premises, disabling printing presses, and effectively halting publication indefinitely, according to news reports. The police said they had search warrants to find documents related to a letter written by an army official that…
In Uganda, media muzzled over alleged Muhoozi project
While Uganda’s politicians and social media are abuzz over a sensational letter reportedly written by a top security official about a high-level assassination plot, police have dutifully harassed the mainstream press in a bid to suppress the chatter.
Ugandan press finds unexpected ally in judiciary
With a medical drip attached to his hand, camped outside police headquarters along Parliamentary Avenue in Uganda’ capital, Kampala, William Ntege was determined to get his video cameras back. Police had beaten Ntege, a journalist with the private broadcaster WBS, and damaged two of his cameras as he covered elections last year, according to local…
Ugandan photojournalist shot at from police van
New York, January 25, 2012–Ugandan authorities must hold to account members of security forces who fired Tuesday on a photojournalist covering their attack on the motorcade of opposition leader Kizza Besigye, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.