Monitor Publications, publishing arm of the Nation Media Group, East Africa’s media powerhouse is reportedly under police siege as the state moves in on media houses reporting anything do with President Yoweri Museveni’s son Muhoozi Kainerubaga as a presidential project.
KFM and Dembe FM also owned by Monitor Publications have been switched off air and controversial newspaper Red Pepper Newspaper, is under siege too.
The siege comes at a time when speculations are rife in the country that the incumbent president is grooming his son to take over power when he retires.
According to The Monitor, Uganda Police officers today searched its offices allegedly looking for a letter sent to them by a Gen David Sejusa. They then shut down the newspaper then its sister FM radio stations – KFM and Dembe FM.
Uganda’s Police Spokesperson Judith Nabakooba took responsibility of the siege claiming the police received intelligence information that people were scanning signatures of senior government officials “with the intention of using the said signatures on documents claiming they are officials documents from government whereas not.” They ten declared the Monitor Publication as a crime scene.
According to Mr Tom Mshindi, the Chief Operating Officer, Nation Media Group (NMG) the action was very surprising.
He said:“We could have hoped for a prior communication before this happened but we didn’t get it.”
The staff telling Mr Mshindi said: “This is a reminder of the hazards that good journalism brings. But just to assure you, we are fully in this wand we will handle the situation and a situation like this requires that we engage proactively.”
The reports said police electricians disconnected the offices from the grid electricity.
It’s reported Gen Sejusa is on a hunt after the Daily Monitor published a letter he wrote to Col Ronnie Balya, director of the Internal Security Organization, asking him to investigate anyone opposed to “Muhoozi Project” especially officials from the government.
But speaking to parliament last week Uganda’s Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga denied there is no such thing as “Muhoozi Project”
Yoweri Museveni is currently out of the country.
