UGANDA barred Nation Media Group’s local television unit from covering presidential events after an “embarrassing” report that President Yoweri Museveni slept in parliament, government spokesman Dennis Katungi said.
NTV Uganda will remain suspended for causing “mischief” until it apologizes and the broadcaster must promise to never again humiliate “important” people such as the president, Katungi said by phone today from the capital, Kampala. Museveni was “meditating,” not dozing, he said.
Museveni, 69, has ruled the East African nation since 1986. Last year, his government shut down the Nation Media-owned Daily Monitor, the country’s most widely circulated independent newspaper, for more than a week after it reported about an alleged plot to assassinate anyone who opposed a plan for Museveni to be replaced by his son, Brigadier Muhoozi Kaneirugaba.
No one answered the phone at NTV Uganda’s main office in Kampala today when Bloomberg called seeking comment. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development is the biggest shareholder in Nation Media, which is based in Nairobi.
