NMG, Next Media journalists barred from covering Museveni’s PDM Tour in Bunyoro

Bunyoro, (UG):- Journalists from two prominent Ugandan media houses; Nation Media Group (NMG) and Next Media were on Wednesday blocked from covering President Museveni’s ongoing tour of the Parish Development Model (PDM) in Bunyoro Sub-region over unclear circumstances.

The reporters, attached to NMG’s NTV, Daily Monitor, and Next Media’s NBS Television were reportedly denied access to key events including Mr Museveni’s Wednesday events, raising questions about media freedom in the East African country.

DailyExpress understands that both media houses had submitted the names of their reporters for accreditation ahead of the four-day tour, which runs from Tuesday to Friday but found their names omitted from the official State House media list.

Despite this, the journalists on the first day of the tour (Tuesday) managed to negotiate access and covered the event, where President Museveni met Mr. Titus Tumusiime, a PDM beneficiary in Butiaba Sub-county, Buliisa District. Their reports were subsequently published and aired.

But the situation took a U-turn on Wednesday when the journalists attempted to cover the commissioning of Bunyoro University in Buhimba Sub-county, Kikuube District and were rudely turned away by officers from the Special Forces Command.

One journalist was quoted saying that an official, part of the Presidential Guard, told them they received “orders from above,” instructing them to leave while their counterparts from other media houses who appeared on the list continued with their coverage.

The journalists were also barred from covering the commissioning of the Hoima Olympic Stadium, which is under construction and expected to host the 2027 AFCON.

The President is expected to hold a leaders’ meeting in Kiryandongo District today (Thursday) and conclude the tour with a public rally at Kahude playground in Kagadi District tomorrow (Friday).

The reason for the journalists’ exclusion from covering the high-profile event remained unclear by press time, and efforts to get a comment from State House press secretaries were unsuccessful as both officials were unreachable by their known telephone numbers.