Security forces have assaulted journalists covering the highly charged Kawempe North by-election, confiscating equipment and injuring multiple reporters.
NBS Television Senior Reporter Canary Mugume confirmed that videographer Wasswa Hassan was badly beaten and required urgent medical attention while other journalists were left battered and shaken.
From the early hours of the election day, security personnel including heavily armed Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) officers patrol streets of Kawempe some in official vehicles and others in unmarked drones with removed number plates.
As journalists attempted to document the voting process, they were targeted, assaulted and had their equipment seized.
Eyewitness reports and testimonies from journalists suggest that UPDF operatives and other plainclothes security personnel were actively involved in these attacks.
Mugume raised critical concerns, asking, “Why is UPDF holding guns in the streets of Kawempe, assaulting journalists?”
The confiscation of cameras and other recording devices has fueled speculation of a deliberate attempt to suppress media coverage of election irregularities including reports of ballot stuffing and voter intimidation.
Kawempe North by-election has been marred by allegations of fraud, heavy handed security interventions and opposition suppression. With multiple reports of election malpractice surfacing, the media’s role in exposing irregularities has seemingly made them a target.
This assault on journalists is not just an attack on individuals but a severe violation of press freedom in Uganda.
This raises broader concerns about the safety of media practitioners and the ability of the press to report independently in a climate where state backed forces appear determined to silence dissenting voices.
Uganda’s press is under siege, and today’s events have once again tested the limits of democracy in the country.
