Israel’s ally imposed a “siege” on the country’s media

The largest independent media outlets in Uganda are under military siege following an order from the Chief of Staff of the Ugandan Army Muhozi Kainruga, who is also the president’s son. In a series of posts published yesterday (Sunday) by Kainruga, he made it clear that he “does not believe in free media”, and that he has the authority to shut down media outlets at will.

The Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor stated in a public announcement that armed soldiers were stationed outside the company’s headquarters in the capital Kampala, and that the NTV and Spark TV channels were taken off the air. The BBC reported that these media belong to the Nation Media Group, one of the most influential media companies in East Africa.

In a series of posts he published on the X network, Kainrogba made it clear that this was a planned step against the free media in the country. “Closing these media outlets is just the beginning. We are going to make many more arrests,” the general wrote. In another post, he clarified that “my great father” gave him the authority to “shut down any media outlet I want.”

In a third post, Kainrogha clarified his dictatorial view of the media’s role: “I don’t believe in freedom of the press in Uganda! The press should be guided by the people of the revolution.” He then provided another statement that “from today all media outlets in Uganda will obey the rules!”.

Muhozi first clarified that the media outlets were “permanently closed”, but then published a clarification post according to which he is holding discussions with “our allies in the UK and Europe regarding the opening of two media outlets”. He became known over the years for the bizarre and detached from reality posts he posted on social networks.

The opposition candidate for the presidency, Bobby Wayne, who is currently in exile, said that General Kainrogba “worked to silence the last remaining independent voices in Uganda”. The Ugandan opposition and human rights organizations accuse Kainrogba of being a central figure in the tyrannical regime led by his father. President Yoweri Museveni has been in power for about 40 years. In January, Museveni won an unprecedented seventh term in disputed elections amid widespread speculation that he was grooming his son to succeed him in the future.

In recent months, Kainrogba has provided some bizarre and surprising statements towards Israel. “If Israel needs aid, it only needs to ask. Their brothers from Uganda are ready to help,” he wrote in one of the posts, and in another he explained: “Israel stood by us when we were nothing and nothing in the 80s and 90s. So why don’t we protect it now, when our GDP is one of the largest in Africa?” He added that support for Israel stems from the fact that “we are Christians.”

In other posts, the Ugandan official even expressed a willingness to participate in the fighting, although it does not seem that there is any real possibility. “We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it. But any talk of destroying Israel or defeating it will get us into the war – on Israel’s side!”, he wrote yesterday, and in a post published today he added: “I hear that our friends in Israel are looking for a division to conquer Tehran. Personally, I think a division is too much – a brigade of the Ugandan army (UPDF) will do the job quickly.”