Uganda’s military has shut down the operations of NTV Uganda, Spark TV and the Daily Monitor after armed soldiers raided the Kampala headquarters of Nation Media Group (NMG) Uganda following an order issued by Chief of Defence Forces General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
The operation, carried out early Sunday at the media company’s offices in Namuwongo, disrupted television broadcasts, newspaper production and radio operations after soldiers took control of the premises and restricted access to staff.
NTV Uganda and Spark TV were taken off air, while publication of the Daily Monitor was interrupted. The raid also affected Nation Media Group’s radio stations, including KFM and Dembe FM, significantly disrupting the company’s multimedia operations.
General Muhoozi, who serves as Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces and is the son of President Yoweri Museveni, publicly announced the action through a series of posts on his official X account before the operation. He declared that NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor had been shut down and stated that the outlets would not resume operations without his approval. In another post, he said he did not believe in a free press and argued that the media should be guided by what he described as “cadres of the revolution.”
Ugandan authorities had not, by Monday, publicly produced a court order or cited any legal provision authorising the military operation. Neither the Uganda People’s Defence Forces nor the Uganda Communications Commission immediately issued a detailed explanation outlining the legal basis for the closure.
The shutdown has drawn criticism from media freedom organisations, which argue that the deployment of armed soldiers against an independent media house raises serious concerns over press freedom and the rule of law.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the military operation, describing the closure of the media outlets as unlawful and calling for the immediate restoration of broadcasting and publishing operations. The organisation urged Ugandan authorities to uphold constitutional protections for media freedom and ensure journalists can operate without intimidation or interference.
In Kenya, the Kenya Editors’ Guild also criticised the raid, saying disputes involving media organisations should be addressed through established legal and regulatory processes rather than military intervention.
The affected outlets are owned by Nation Media Group, East Africa’s largest independent media company, which operates newspapers, television stations, radio stations and digital platforms across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. In Uganda, the group owns the Daily Monitor, NTV Uganda, Spark TV, KFM, Dembe FM and several online news platforms.
The incident marks one of the most significant actions against an independent media organisation in Uganda in recent years and revives memories of a similar operation in 2013, when security agencies sealed the Daily Monitor‘s offices after the newspaper published reports relating to an alleged succession plan involving General Muhoozi. That closure lasted more than a week before operations resumed.
The latest shutdown comes as Uganda enters a politically significant period ahead of the country’s next general elections, with growing scrutiny over the relationship between state institutions, the military and independent media. Press freedom advocates have repeatedly expressed concern over restrictions affecting journalists and media organisations, arguing that independent reporting remains essential to public accountability and democratic governance.
As of Monday, there was no official indication of when the affected television stations, newspaper and radio services would be allowed to resume normal operations. The government had also not announced whether any formal legal proceedings had been initiated against Nation Media Group Uganda or its journalists.
