US-Uganda Ties Under Review As U.S. Senator Speaks On Muhoozi-Led Media Purge
The chairperson of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch, has called for the immediate review of America’s bilateral relations with Uganda after the shutdown of the country’s top news outlets.
Risch’s demand follows controversial orders by Uganda’s military chief, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to shut down two of the country’s leading independent media outlets over allegations of bias.
In a statement on Monday, June 29, Risch said Kainerugaba’s actions against press freedom make both him and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) unfit security partners for the United States.
“The U.S. needs to review its security relationship with Uganda. General Kainerugaba’s attacks on free speech, including shuttering major media houses this weekend, make him and the UPDF unfit partners,” he wrote.
He went on to add, “We should only work with those who advance regional security, not diminish it.
His remarks came after Kainerugaba announced on Sunday, June 28, that he had ordered the closure of Daily Monitor, Uganda’s largest independent newspaper, and NTV Uganda.
Kainerugaba, who is President Yoweri Museveni’s son, declared that the two media outlets would remain closed until he personally authorised their reopening.
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“The Daily Monitor and NTV Uganda will not reopen without my permission,” Kainerugaba wrote in a series of posts shared on his X account.
In his remarks, the country’s military chief also openly dismissed the concept of press freedom, saying independent media had no place in Uganda.
Both Daily Monitor and NTV Uganda are owned by Nation Media Group (NMG), East Africa’s largest independent media company, headquartered in Nairobi and listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
According to the Daily Monitor, military personnel were deployed to NMG’s headquarters in Kampala on Sunday, blocking staff from entering or leaving the premises after the shutdown order.
Risch’s comments come as a major blow to Uganda, since, as chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he plays a key role in shaping U.S. foreign policy and in overseeing America’s relations with other countries.
US-Uganda Ties Under Review As U.S. Senator Speaks On Muhoozi-Led Media Purge
