KAMPALA, Uganda — Nation Media Group Uganda has returned to operation after a month-long shutdown that forced some of the country's best-known newspaper, television and radio platforms off air and brought normal publishing at the Daily Monitor to a standstill.
The reopening closes an important chapter in a story iTV Uganda had continued monitoring throughout July. On 21 July, this newsroom reported that the Daily Monitor website remained publicly accessible but had carried no fresh news since 30 June, with no official confirmation at the time that NMG Uganda's normal operations had been restored.
That position changed a week later when Nation Media Group announced on 28 July that its Uganda operations had been cleared to resume following weeks of negotiations involving company representatives, government officials and the group's majority shareholder.
UCC formally clears reopening
The Uganda Communications Commission subsequently issued formal clearance for the company's return.
In a letter dated 29 July and addressed to NMG Uganda Managing Director Susan Nsibirwa, UCC Executive Director Nyombi Thembo said the regulator had received instructions from President Yoweri Museveni clearing the reopening of the company's businesses.
The communication provided formal regulatory confirmation after Nation Media Group and its majority shareholder, Taifa Group, had already announced that the media company's operations would resume.
Daily Monitor returns online
Daily Monitor resumed online publishing and access to its remotely produced e-paper from 30 July, ending the period in which its website remained frozen on stories published several weeks earlier.
The website has since returned to regular news publishing, carrying fresh national, political, business and other reporting.
This represents a significant change from the situation documented by iTV Uganda on 21 July, when the Monitor homepage and major news sections were still displaying reports dated 30 June or earlier.
NTV and other platforms restored progressively
NMG Uganda said its broadcasting operations would return in phases as technical and operational arrangements were completed.
NTV Uganda initially resumed through its digital platforms, including its flagship Luganda-language Akawungeezi bulletin, ahead of the gradual restoration of conventional broadcasting.
The company also moved to reactivate Spark TV, 93.3 KFM and 90.4 Dembe FM alongside its print and digital operations.
NMG PLC Chairman Joe Muganda said the company would remain focused on the:
“delivery of trusted and balanced journalism across all our platforms.”
A month of disruption
NMG Uganda's operations had been disrupted since the early hours of 28 June, when security personnel were deployed at its headquarters in Namuwongo and at broadcast facilities at the Kampala Serena International Conference Centre.
NTV Uganda and Spark TV went off air during the operation, while KFM and Dembe FM were also affected. Access to NMG premises was restricted, disrupting newspaper production and preventing many staff members from accessing their workplaces.
Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba publicly announced the shutdown and later accused the media group of conducting what he described as a campaign against the government and its leadership. Those claims were allegations made by the military chief and were not findings of a court or independent regulatory proceeding.
The government later said the disruption was connected to a security-led inquiry ordered by President Museveni, although the specific alleged wrongdoing under investigation was not publicly detailed at the outset.
High-level talks preceded reopening
The eventual reopening followed several weeks of engagement involving government officials, NMG management and Tanzanian businessman Rostam Azizi, whose Taifa Group is the majority shareholder in Nation Media Group.
Azizi met Gen Kainerugaba in early July and later met President Museveni at State House in Entebbe as discussions over the future of the Uganda operations continued.
NMG's return was subsequently welcomed by Taifa Group, which reaffirmed its support for fair, balanced, independent and responsible journalism.
From a frozen website to resumed publishing
For iTV Uganda, the reopening also provides a clear conclusion to the situation documented during the fourth week of the shutdown.
At that stage, Daily Monitor remained online in a technical sense but its normal editorial publishing had stopped, while uncertainty continued over when staff would regain access to workplaces and when NTV Uganda, Spark TV, KFM and Dembe FM would return.
The resumption means one of Uganda's most significant recent confrontations between state authorities and a major independent media organisation has moved from closure to restoration, although the episode is likely to remain part of the wider national debate over media freedom, national security and the relationship between public authorities and news organisations.
