HRF condemns Ugandan dictator’s son and military boss Gen. Muhoozi Kainerubaga’s orchestration of a wave of extrajudicial security raids, abductions, and politically-motivated criminal prosecutions against his critics in the press and civil society. These gross abuses of power and human rights suggest Ugandans are living at the mercy and whim of one erratic individual who is trampling on the constitution as if it is no longer in effect.

Since early Sunday, armed soldiers have sealed and surrounded the offices of the local branch of the Nation Media Group (NMG), East Africa’s largest independent media house. As the operation unfolded, Kainerubaga announced on X that NMG’s main TV station, NTV, and its newspaper, the Daily Monitor, were being shut down. Within four hours, all of NMG’s broadcast stations — NTV, Spark TV, KFM, and Dembe FM — were forced off the air. The shutdown fulfills Kainebrubaga’s prior threats to close the news outlet, which has been de facto barred from the presidential press pool since March 2025 in retaliation for its pointed coverage.

On June 28, police brought veteran political analyst and Kainerubaga critic Timothy Kalyegira to Kira Chief Magistrate’s Court after he went missing on June 26. He was charged with the politically-motivated offense of operating two media platforms without a license and was remanded to Luzira Prison.

On June 29, police brought respected former cabinet minister, women’s rights advocate, and framer of Uganda’s 1995 constitution Dr. Miria Matembe to Luzira Magistrate’s court. Matembe had also gone missing on June 25 after her recent criticism of Kainerubaga’s lawlessness. The 73-year-old struggled to walk with the assistance of an aide as she emerged from Kainerubaga’s torture dungeons which dictator Museveni once called “the fridge.” She was handed a politically-motivated charge of promoting sectarianism over comments she made on television criticizing nepotism and was remanded to Luzira prison. Her emotional appeal for bail on the basis of her need for medical treatment following her extrajudicial abduction and detention were ignored.