The British Commonwealth has issued an emergency demand for press freedom in Uganda after the government ordered the shutdown of three independent news outlets. Documents obtained by this bureau reveal that the closures are linked to a state security directive issued on 12 April, citing 'national security concerns' over coverage of a corruption scandal involving a London-based mining conglomerate.
Sources inside the Commonwealth secretariat confirm that the Secretary-General has invoked Article 23 of the Commonwealth Charter, which commits member states to 'freedom of expression and media independence.' An emergency session is scheduled for Friday in London, with Uganda facing potential suspension from the organisation if the ban is not lifted within 72 hours.
The affected media houses: Daily Monitor, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation's investigative unit, and The Observer, were taken off air and their printing presses seized at dawn on Monday. Staff were barred from entering premises. One editor, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me: 'They didn't even give us a piece of paper. Just a soldier with a rifle and a nod from the State House.'
Traced documents from Kampala's Ministry of Information show that the crackdown was personally authorised by President Yoweri Museveni after the outlets ran a series on the 'Bomet-Holborn' deal, a joint venture between Uganda's State Mining Corporation and a UK-registered shell company. British company records show the firm's beneficial owner is a former Conservative Party donor who declined to comment. The deal involves rights to phosphate deposits near Tororo, valued at £2.8 billion in a leaked World Bank memo. Uganda's Auditor General last year flagged 'irregularities in revenue sharing' from the mine.
The Commonwealth's intervention is rare. The last such demand under Article 23 was issued against Sri Lanka in 2022 during the Rajapaksa protests. A former Commonwealth legal advisor, who asked not to be named, said: 'This is a nuclear option. It means London is certain that Kampala's move is a cover-up, not security.'
On the ground, the shutdown has paralysed newsrooms. Journalists are braced for arrests. An opposition MP, Ssemujju Nganda, said in a Facebook post that had been deleted by press time: 'They want us to become a one-party state with a single broadcaster. The Commonwealth must not blink.'
The Ugandan High Commission in London has not returned calls. But a source close to the High Commissioner suggests Museveni may back down, fearing a freeze on Commonwealth aid and diplomatic isolation. The UK's Department for International Development, which gives £90 million in aid yearly, is reportedly reviewing its Uganda portfolio.
I have a dossier from a former Ugandan intelligence officer, who fled to Kenya after the 2021 elections. It includes photographs of a meeting at the Kampala Serena Hotel in February between a minister and the mining company's CEO. The officer says the shutdown is 'the tip of a spear' and that more arrests are planned. He is seeking asylum.
In this machine, the whistle is as good as the gun. The Commonwealth has pulled the whistle. Now we wait to see if the gun is lowered.
This is Marcus Stone for The Investigative Bureau. We will continue to follow the money.
