So Uganda’s army chief, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has decided that the best way to handle inconvenient journalism is to simply shut it down. Four media outlets, including a popular daily, were ordered to close this week. The excuse? Some half-baked claim about national security and “regulatory compliance.” That is the kind of language that would make Tiberius blush. Meanwhile, British diplomats have rushed to issue the usual stern condemnations, tutting about press freedom as if they were still the arbiters of colonial virtue. One almost expects them to send a gunboat.
Let us be clear: this is not an isolated act of thuggery. It is a symptom of a deeper intellectual decay that has infected Africa’s strongmen. They read Machiavelli, but only the chapters on fear. They understand that a free press is the first casualty of any aspiring autocrat. General Kainerugaba, who is also the president’s son, clearly believes that the Fourth Estate is a nuisance to be managed like a rebellious province. He is wrong. He is dismantling the very institutions that give his regime a veneer of legitimacy.
What grates is the hypocrisy of the Western response. Britain’s Foreign Office has condemned the closures, but where was this outrage when the same general was threatening to invade Kenya last year? Where was the condemnation when Uganda’s parliament passed draconian anti-homosexuality laws, cheered on by the same evangelical preachers who fill British airwaves? The British are quick to defend journalists when it suits their narrative, but slow to question the deeper rot: the alliance of convenience with regimes that suppress dissent as long as they toe the line on trade and terrorism.
The closures are also a lesson in historical amnesia. In 2013, Kenya’s Standard newspaper was raided by masked gunmen, and the world barely blinked. In 2016, Tanzania’s MwanaHalisi was shut down for “publishing false information.” The pattern is as predictable as the rainy season. Journalists are beaten, websites are blocked, and editors are dragged before kangaroo courts. And the response from the international community is a flurry of press releases that accomplish precisely nothing.
Let us not pretend this is about “law and order.” It is about power and the fear of accountability. A free press is the enemy of the strongman because it exposes his frailties: the mismanagement, the corruption, the cronyism. Uganda’s economy is a shambles, inflation is soaring, and public services are crumbling. Rather than address these issues, General Kainerugaba shoots the messenger. It is the oldest trick in the book, and it never works. History is littered with strongmen who silenced the press and then wondered why their palaces were stormed.
What should be done? The British diplomats could start by naming and shaming the individuals behind the closures, not just the regime. They could impose targeted sanctions on General Kainerugaba and his inner circle. They could use their influence at the Commonwealth to push for a resolution. But they won’t. Because that would upset the delicate balance of interests: the visas, the trade deals, the military cooperation. Better to issue a stern statement and move on to the next crisis.
In the end, the closure of these media outlets is a tragedy for ordinary Ugandans who rely on independent journalism to navigate their world. But it is also a wake-up call for the West. You cannot defend press freedom in one breath and embrace its enemies in the next. History, as ever, is watching.
