US Senator wants review of security relationship with Uganda after media closure

Risch, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested that Uganda was an ‘unfit partner’ following the recent closure of media outlets sanctioned by the military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

“The U.S. needs to review its security relationship with Uganda. Gen. @mkainerugaba's attacks on free speech, including shuttering major media houses this weekend, make him & the UPDF unfit partners. We should only work with those who advance regional security, not diminish it,” Risch wrote in a tweet on Monday. 

The U.S Senator was responding to a report on the closure of two leading media outlets, NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor Newspaper, owned by the Nation Media Group (NMG).

Muhoozi, on June 28, ordered the closure of the stations, saying Uganda was against the free press. 

"In Uganda, I do not believe in a free press! The press should be guided by cadres ⁠of the revolution," Muhoozi noted in a post on X.

The chief of the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), said the media outlets would not reopen without his approval.

"I have the power in Uganda to shut down ANY media house I want to. I have had this power since 2017. This power was given to me by my great father, President Yoweri Museveni," Muhoozi said.

The Daily Monitor reported that military personnel had been deployed to NMG premises in Kampala and the staff had limited access. 

 The Uganda National Broadcasters Association raised its concerns regarding the shutdown and urged the government to seek clarification for this action, declaring it a violation of the Ugandan constitution.