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Uganda's army chief shuts down media, tightens grip on power · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: In Uganda. I do not believe in a free press.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the words of Uganda's powerful army chief, who
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  Speaker 1: also happens to be the president's son, as he shut
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  Speaker 1: down several media outlets in the East African country. General
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  Speaker 1: Muhuzu Kana Ugaba fired off a series of tweets announcing
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  Speaker 1: the closure of Daily Monitor and NTV Uganda on Sunday.
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  Speaker 1: To quote him, NTV and Monitor are being shut down
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  Speaker 1: from today, he wrote, misspelling the name of the newspaper.
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  Speaker 1: Both will not reopen without my permission, he continued. From
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  Speaker 1: now on, all media in Uganda will follow the rules.
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  Speaker 1: Days later, both those outlets and four more from the
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  Speaker 1: Nation Media Group were still shuttered. The Daily Monitor said
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  Speaker 1: it was under military siege, with armed soldiers standing guard
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  Speaker 1: outside its offices in the capital Kampala. Its website shows
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  Speaker 1: a similar scene armed massed men in fatigues sing the
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  Speaker 1: once free press outlet. The newspaper says it's getting round
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  Speaker 1: the physical blockade and the broadcast and print blackout by
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  Speaker 1: distributing updates through online channels. So who is Muhuzi Kanarugaba,
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  Speaker 1: the head of Uganda's military and President Rwei Musevni's son
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  Speaker 1: has ordered a major crackdown in recent months with the
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  Speaker 1: rest of politicians, activists, lawyers and media figures. Kanarugaba insists
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  Speaker 1: he is following the orders of his eighty one year
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  Speaker 1: old father, who won reelection at the start of the year.
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  Speaker 1: The fifty two year old son has often suggested he
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  Speaker 1: could take over from Musevni as president and runs his
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  Speaker 1: own political movement, the Patriotic League of Uganda. His postings
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  Speaker 1: on X aren't only confined to media outlets. They're part
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  Speaker 1: of a broader crackdown on opposition figures. We're going to
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  Speaker 1: highlight three of them. First, Kanarugaba bragged on X that
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  Speaker 1: he was proud of all the hurt and pain he
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  Speaker 1: would inflict on lawyer Arias Lucuago. Luquago is charged with
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  Speaker 1: treason related offenses and is an attorney for full time
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  Speaker 1: presidential candidate ki's At Bessij seen here in the middle.
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  Speaker 1: Now Bessiej is behind bars for a separate treason case.
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  Speaker 1: A third opposition figure, another lawyer and former minister mariat
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  Speaker 1: Matebe on the right, was charged with promoting sectarianism on Wednesday,
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  Speaker 1: a week after she disappeared from her home. The judge
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  Speaker 1: bailed the seventy three year old, citing her age to
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  Speaker 1: unpack all this. I'm pleased to welcome Sukula Ayela, a
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  Speaker 1: human rights researcher working with Amnesty International, and he joins
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  Speaker 1: us from Nairobi. I'm curious from where you sit, is
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  Speaker 1: General Mahouse acting as a loyal enforcer of his father's
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  Speaker 1: presidency or as a politician in uniform running his own
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  Speaker 1: succession campaign. What does the Mahuzi project look like on
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  Speaker 1: the ground right now.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we've seen Hosey.
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  Speaker 3: General Hosey indicate clearly that he would prefer to take
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  Speaker 3: over after his father. But he's coming in with a
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  Speaker 3: lot more authoritarian tendencies, much harsh authoritarian tendencies than his
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  Speaker 3: father did. Because we see that in his under the
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  Speaker 3: project there is no descent. He's crushing descent. He's crashing
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  Speaker 3: any pretense to the rule of law. He has indicated
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  Speaker 3: that he does not engage with the critics.
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  Speaker 2: He has virtually.
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  Speaker 3: Kicked you know, most of the opposition leaders either in
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  Speaker 3: jail or some have fled the country.
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  Speaker 2: So we see a rule of fear. We see a.
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  Speaker 3: Person who doesn't want scrut me from whether it's the
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  Speaker 3: independent media or civil society, and no accountability because he's
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  Speaker 3: also militarizing the state.
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  Speaker 1: No accountability. Again, he's taken clear shots at the media,
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  Speaker 1: saying he doesn't believe in a free press because media
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  Speaker 1: should be quote guided by the cadres of the revolution.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure entirely what that means, but I do
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  Speaker 1: wonder what journalists in the country think it means. What
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  Speaker 1: are the day to day realities for journalists and newsrooms
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  Speaker 1: across the country today.
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  Speaker 3: The journalists we've spoken with have indicated to us so
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  Speaker 3: there's a little fee within newsrooms in Uganga because you
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  Speaker 3: can never speak against the government. There has been an
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  Speaker 3: order from persons very close to General Mosey who've instructed
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  Speaker 3: media to only air positive government stories. It's now becoming
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  Speaker 3: very difficult for newsrooms to bring on board panelists who
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  Speaker 3: are passive to be critical of government. And this definitely
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  Speaker 3: is not good for the you know, an independent media
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  Speaker 3: because they can't operate in such an environment that is
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  Speaker 3: highly restrictive.
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  Speaker 1: You're talking about a scenario in which he's trying to
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  Speaker 1: turn everything, every outlet into state media. Essentially, you could
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  Speaker 1: call much of what we're seeing political theater playing out
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  Speaker 1: on X threats to behead Bobby Wine, detain diplomats, keep
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  Speaker 1: media outlets closed. Are these just provocative posts or do
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  Speaker 1: people in the country see them as binding orders from
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  Speaker 1: the de facto center of power.
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  Speaker 3: These are actually really posts. These moses ruling the country
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  Speaker 3: through social media, and whenever he posts anything, it's actually taken,
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  Speaker 3: it's acted upon by the authorities.
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  Speaker 2: There's no he's the institution.
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  Speaker 3: And I think it also goes to what the presidency
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  Speaker 3: of Museveni has been the institutions who are crashed and
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  Speaker 3: now everything has been personalized, and so we see that
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  Speaker 3: whatever Mosey says on social media, it has come to pass.
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  Speaker 3: And that's why Amnesty actually is asking that all those
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  Speaker 3: who have been habitually arrested due to what morose has
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  Speaker 3: said on social media need to be freed, and all
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  Speaker 3: the six media houses that have been shut down on
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  Speaker 3: others from Josey also need to be opened.
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  Speaker 2: And we also want to ask that all.
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  Speaker 3: Those civil society activists who are being harassed that the
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  Speaker 3: intimidation should end, because he's actually doing it on social
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  Speaker 3: media and we are seeing it in real life.
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  Speaker 1: So to be clear, what you're saying is people in
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  Speaker 1: the region do not view his posts simply as a
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  Speaker 1: political leader or figure thumping his trash or pasturing. They
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  Speaker 1: really do take the post seriously as coming from the
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  Speaker 1: center of power in the country.
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  Speaker 3: Correct and whatever Jose has an uded on social media
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  Speaker 3: twittered about has come to pass unfortunately, Like in the
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  Speaker 3: very reason in case where he ordered the closure of
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  Speaker 3: the six media houses, we sow let a statement saying
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  Speaker 3: that all these actions were taken on orders of the president.
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  Speaker 2: Mister Museveni.
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  Speaker 3: Somjos is virtually doing these actions on behalf of the president, who,
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  Speaker 3: by the way, is legally duty bound to make sure
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  Speaker 3: that human rights are protected and if that is not happening,
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  Speaker 3: he's the one to be held accountable, of course, with
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  Speaker 3: the person who is making this call.
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  Speaker 2: So these actions that let people's write.
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  Speaker 1: So looking beyond day's headlines, what concerns you the most
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  Speaker 1: about the direction u Ganda is heading.
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  Speaker 3: Our biggest concern as Amnesty International is the entrenchment of
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  Speaker 3: impunity through Hosy's actions.
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  Speaker 2: We see that there's continued erosion of human rights.
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  Speaker 3: We see activists being subjected to baseless investigations. The media
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  Speaker 3: being shut down UH and the misuse of criminal justice
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  Speaker 3: system is something that continues to you know, to concern
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  Speaker 3: us as Amnesty and we still hope, we still call
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  Speaker 3: for the release of all those who've been who are
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  Speaker 3: currently behind us for exercising the rights for the reopening
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  Speaker 3: of the media houses that have been shut down on
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  Speaker 3: orders we just with no justification.
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  Speaker 2: And also an end to the harassment of active in Uganda.
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  Speaker 1: That is a Sukula on Yela, human rights researcher working
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  Speaker 1: with Amnesty International. Our deep thanks to you, thank you
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  Speaker 1: very much for sting