NTV, Spark TV pulled off air on Muhoozi orders, military deployed at stations, offices

• NTV Uganda and Spark TV were forced off air after a security deployment at Nation Media Group premises.

• The operation followed Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba's public declarations that the broadcaster would be shut down.

• Security personnel remained deployed at NMG offices while staff reported being unable to leave or enter.

• Authorities had not issued a formal explanation or legal basis for the operation by press time.

NTV Uganda and Spark TV were forced off air in the early hours of Sunday after security personnel deployed at Nation Media Group (NMG) Uganda premises following a social media broadcast directed by Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba to shut down the broadcaster.

The operation began shortly after midnight at NMG's offices in Namuwongo and at the Serena Hotel, where some of the broadcaster's transmission infrastructure is located.

By about 5am, viewers tuning into NTV Uganda and Spark TV were met with blank screens displaying the message "video unavailable" while on GOTV, the channels indicated "technical difficulties”

The deployment followed a series of posts on X in which Gen Kainerugaba announced that NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor would be shut down.

"NTV and Monitor are being shut down from today!" he wrote in a post at 1:07am.

In another post, he added: "Both NTV and Monitor will not re-open without my permission."

Hours earlier, the CDF had also written: "In Uganda, I DO NOT believe in a free press! The press should be guided by cadres of the revolution."

Staff inside the media house reported that security personnel had sealed off the premises and prevented people from entering or leaving.

By daybreak, security officers remained deployed at the Namuwongo offices and at the Serena Hotel.

Besides NTV Uganda and Spark TV, NMG Uganda owns the Daily Monitor newspaper, The EastAfrican, KFM 93.3, Dembe FM 90.4, the Ennyanda newspaper and the Nation Courier.

Although the Daily Monitor continued publishing online, it was not immediately clear whether the deployment had affected other newsroom operations.

KFM and Dembe FM also appeared to experience interruptions during the operation, although the cause was not immediately confirmed.

By press time, neither the Uganda People's Defence Forces, the Uganda Police Force nor the Uganda Communications Commission had issued a formal statement explaining the deployment or citing any legal order authorising the shutdown.

Nation Media Group Uganda had also not released an official statement.

The shutdown followed several days of escalating attacks by Gen Kainerugaba against NMG journalists and its publications on social media.

The incident marks one of the most significant actions taken against a Ugandan media house in recent years.

It is not the first time Nation Media Group has faced such action.

In May 2013, police raided the Daily Monitor, Dembe FM and other NMG offices after the newspaper published a letter alleging the existence of the so-called "Muhoozi Project". The premises remained closed for more than a week before operations resumed.

Earlier, in February 2007, NTV Uganda was temporarily forced off air just weeks after launching following accusations by government officials that its news coverage was hostile.