Uganda’s government has imposed a sweeping ban on live broadcasts of riots, unlawful processions, and violent incidents, a move that comes just days before a highly charged presidential election on January 15.
The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology announced the prohibition in a statement from Kampala on Monday, warning that such coverage “can escalate tension and spread panic.” This directive also bars the dissemination of any “inciting, hateful or violent” content, raising fresh concerns over media freedoms in a nation bracing for potential unrest.
The restrictions arrive amid a broader security crackdown, with authorities detaining hundreds of supporters of opposition leader Bobi Wine, the 43-year-old pop star turned politician challenging President Yoweri Museveni’s bid to extend his decades-long rule. Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has mobilized massive crowds with his anti-corruption message and calls for democratic change, positioning himself as a youthful alternative to the long-entrenched leader.
Museveni’s political dominance traces back to January 1986, when his National Resistance Army ended years of turmoil following the ouster of Idi Amin in 1979 and subsequent instability under Milton Obote. Rising through a five-year bush war rebellion, Museveni swept into power promising stability and reform, initially earning praise for restoring order and economic growth in a country scarred by dictatorship and ethnic strife.
Over nearly four decades, he has become Africa’s third-longest-serving ruler, behind only Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang and Cameroon’s Paul Biya, securing re-election multiple times amid accusations of constitutional tinkering—most notably in 2005 and 2017—to scrap term limits.
Critics and international rights groups have long documented patterns of state repression to safeguard this hold. Before the 2021 election, more than 50 people died in clashes as security forces cracked down on Wine’s supporters, who alleged widespread vote rigging a claim Museveni dismissed outright.
Those events echoed earlier post-election violence in 2016, when Besigye’s rallies drew brutal responses, leaving dozens dead and hundreds arrested. Amnesty International, in a statement released Monday, described the current pre-election atmosphere as a “brutal campaign of repression against Wine’s supporters,” citing arbitrary arrests, beatings, and torture by Ugandan security forces.
Adding to the tension, veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye remains behind bars more than a year after his detention on treason charges, which he has vehemently denied. Besigye, a former Museveni ally who broke ranks in the 1990s, has faced repeated arrests and trials over two decades of challenging elections, symbolizing the endurance of dissent against the ruling National Resistance Movement.
Government spokespeople and police have not yet responded to queries about the broadcast ban or Amnesty’s allegations, leaving the measures’ enforcement details unclear. The ministry’s statement frames the prohibitions as necessary to prevent escalation, but they recall similar curbs during past polls, when internet blackouts and media shutdowns drew global condemnation. Uganda’s constitution guarantees press freedom under Article 29, yet successive administrations have invoked public order laws like the 2021 Computer Misuse Act—to target online dissent.
As voting stations prepare for January 15, the stakes could not be higher. Museveni, now 80, faces not just Wine but a fragmented field of challengers in a race overseen by the Electoral Commission, which his allies control. Historical turnout has hovered around 60 percent, often marred by reports of ballot stuffing and voter intimidation from groups like Human Rights Watch. Rights advocates warn that stifling live coverage could obscure real-time abuses, while authorities argue it protects national stability—a familiar refrain in Museveni’s playbook.
