Journalists snub Internal Affairs, MPs meeting

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Parliamentary journalists, led by Uganda Parliamentary Press Association (UPPA) president Sam Ibanda Mugabi, walked out of a meeting on Tuesday, March 25, between internal affairs ministry officials and MPs on the sector committee chaired by Wilson Kajwengye (Nyabushozi County, NRM).

The journalists had attended in full force, expecting an apology from the government over the assault of their colleagues by security agencies during the recently concluded Kawempe North byelection.

The election, won by NUP’s Erias Luyimbazi Nalukoola, saw over a dozen journalists attacked, including Miracle Ibrah (Top TV), Steven Kibwiika (Spark TV), Francis Isano (Next Media), Raymond Tamale (NTV), Denis Kabugo (NTV), Abubaker Lubowa (Daily Monitor), and David Ijjo (NTV).

Vision Group journalists Everest Mukiibi (Bukedde Radio Embuutikizi), Ruhweza Ibrahim (New Vision), and Isaac Nuwagaba (New Vision) were also reportedly roughed up and forced into drones.

However, journalists left disappointed after internal affairs minister Gen. Kahinda Otafiire distanced himself from responsibility. The Ruhinda North legislator, who also serves as the global chairman of the Pan-African Movement, said he was in Zimbabwe at the time of the incidents and declined to comment further, noting the President had already addressed the matter.

“My colleague, the minister, addressed Parliament, I am told, and ably put our position. The President has also made a position, and we are bound by collective duty of responsibility to follow the statement of the chief executive. So if you have any questions after the statement of the chief executive, I think you better refer those questions to the chief executive because we are bound by collective Cabinet responsibility, and he is the chair of Cabinet,” Otafiire said.

“When you have reached Jesus Christ, you don’t need a Bishop,” he added.

Otafiire was responding to concerns raised by Nakaseke South MP Paulson Luttamaguzi Semakula (DP) and Kinkiizi West MP James Kaberuka (NRM). Luttamaguzi urged the ministers to apologise, saying, “There is what we call ‘Ubuntu’ in African language. Since we have the two ministers, I think it would be right of them to apologise to the fourth estate since they are part of us for what was done to them during the Kawempe elections.”

However, Kajwengye clarified that the committee had previously requested the ministry to present a formal statement on the matter before Parliament, and addressing it at this stage would be premature.

“Let’s stick to that until you prepare a formal statement on the floor,” he said.

Despite this, Kaberuka insisted that the committee needed assurances regarding election security, given that the ministerial policy statements under discussion were for the 2025/26 financial year.

“We need to give hope to these committee members who represent the people of Uganda that we are safe and are going to be safe in elections. I also need to know who is in charge of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT). Is it also part of the elections? Because the fourth estate and the people of Uganda need safety,” he said.

Following Otafiire’s remarks, journalists, feeling their concerns had been dismissed, staged a walkout in protest.

Ibanda Mugabi explained that the move aligned with the media blackout imposed on security agencies earlier this month by journalist associations and media owners.

The blackout was announced on March 15, 2025, at a joint press conference at Speke Hotel in Kampala, attended by leaders from UPPA, the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA), the Uganda Sports Press Association (USPA), the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda), the Uganda Editors’ Guild, the Uganda Media Women’s Association, the Uganda Journalists Union, and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).