Police shut Uganda’s ‘Monitor’ newspaper

Kampala. Ugandan police yesterday closed down the Monitor newspaper and its two sister radio stations – KFM and Dembe FM – and declared the newspaper’s premises a “crime scene”.

The newspaper’s offices in Kampala were surrounded by gun-wielding policemen with an order to search the place. At around 11.15am, three packed police patrols cars arrived at the premises in Kampala. Several officers jumped off and started chasing away civilians, including bodaboda riders who park at the entrance waiting for journalists going to the field.

The officers came with search warrants that allowed them to even search the printing plant for Gen David Sejusa’s letter.

In a press statement, police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said police had received intelligence information that there were people who had started scanning signatures of senior government officials “with the intention of using the said signatures on documents claiming they are officials documents from government whereas they are not.” The police officers on the scene, led by Deputy CID Director Godfrey Musana, said the newspaper’s premises have been declared a scene of crime and no operations could continue.

Security sources said the state was cracking the whip over the media’s reporting of the frenzy surrounding Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s son Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s ambitions for the presidency, dubbed by the Coordinator of Intelligence Services, Gen David Sejusa, the “Muhoozi Project”.

Mr Alex Asiimwe, the Monitor Publications Limited (MPL) managing director, described the situation as “very surprising and unfortunate’.

“We are seeing police men wielding guns but no one is giving us a communication on what is happening,” he said, adding:

“Instead of carrying out the search, the armed men disabled the printing press, computer servers and radio transmission equipment,

“The intention was to prevent the monitor from operating, broadcasting and printing its newspapers. We are horrified by this act.”

As the police officers frisked people entering the building, those inside were seen looking through windows to have a glimpse of Mr Godfrey Musana, the deputy director CID giving orders to plainclothes officers to start searching the premises. After the order to close the newspaper was issued some plain officers started mingling with the Monitor staff at the newspaper’s canteen eating food and mingling with the staff, probably to tap into possible leads from the unsuspecting reporters.

Mr Tom Mshindi, the Chief Operating Officer, Nation Media Group (NMG), said the action was “very surprising” in a country where core discussions on freedom of expression were lively.

“We could have hoped for a prior communication before this happened but we didn’t get it,” added Mr Mshindi who was part of the team that came from Nairobi to attend an impromptu board meeting.

Addressing the staff, Mr Mshindi said: “This is a reminder of the hazards that good journalism brings. But just to assure you, we are fully in this and we will handle the situation. A situation like this requires that we engage proactively.”

Determined to cripple the day’s activities at the Monitor, police electricians also were called in to disconnect the offices from the grid.

Gen Sejusa has kicked up a storm after Daily Monitor this month published a letter he wrote to the director of the Internal Security Organisation Col Ronnie Balya, asking that he investigates claims of plots to eliminate government officials opposed to “Muhoozi Project”.

Ugandan Defence minister Crispus Kiyonga last week told Parliament that no such project existed allegedly meant to help the First Son, Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, succeed his father, President Museveni.

Gen Sejusa, who is currently out of the country, was scheduled to return to the country this week but never showed up.

News of his anticipated return was greeted with heavy deployment along Entebbe Road, especially at the airport and until yesterday, visitors and cars to the facility were still undergoing thorough search and cameras were not being allowed inside.