Dictators fear a free press more than they fear armies, for a journalist armed with a pen can expose what fully fledged infantry battalions may not.
Power-hungry despot, Yoseri Tibuhaburwa Kagutema a.k.a Museveni, understands this all too well. It is within this context that the ageing autocrat, who has sworn to rule Uganda for life, continues to intensify efforts to intimidate the media.
His goal is clear: to scare journalists away from reporting objectively on the upcoming 2026 general elections, in which Ugandans are determined to give Museveni and his NRM cabal of cronies a “long-overdue red card“.
For example, during Labour Day celebrations in Nakapiripirit on 1 May 2025, Museveni used the occasion to unleash a barrage of insults and threats against the media, particularly targeting the Daily Monitor, which he labelled a “traitor” that publishes “rubbish every day.”
He even went so far as to complain that the newspaper should spin his nonexistent achievements and hollow ambitions into something worth celebrating.
Earlier this year, Museveni escalated his assault on press freedom by offering a UGX 100 million bribe to journalists from the Busoga region, dismissing them as “poor mercenaries” in a shameless attempt to manipulate media coverage in his favour.
To their credit, many of those journalists rejected the offer, reaffirming their commitment to independent reporting despite the immense pressure from an increasingly authoritarian regime.
Realising he could neither buy off the media nor coerce it into supporting his blood-soaked political agenda, the ageing dictator has resorted to widespread intimidation and harassment of journalists and media outlets.
In just the past three months, 21 journalists have been brutally assaulted while on duty, especially when covering Museveni’s blatant human rights abuses and anti-democratic practices.
Museveni routinely brands members of the Fourth Estate as “rumourmongers,” “terrorists,” “enemies of the state,” or “mercenaries.” He persistently targets independent media that dare to uphold journalistic integrity and expose his regime’s atrocities against innocent Ugandans.
He only tolerates media platforms that praise his so-called achievements and vilify the opposition. This kind of biased reporting is a betrayal of journalistic ethics, which demand objectivity, truth, and accountability above all else.
What Museveni fails to grasp is that the fall of his regime is inevitable. No amount of money, coercion, or propaganda will stop the tide of change. Not even his desperate efforts in attempt to silence the press can prevent or delay his imminent downfall.