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Uganda police close NMG's paper and two radio stations [Business Daily (Kenya)](Business Daily (Kenya) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Uganda police on Monday shut down operations of the Nation Media Group in the country, apparently on the strength of a search warrant. The Monitor Publications Ltd Monday said in a statement that Uganda Police had closed its newspaper, The Monitor, and its radio stations, KFM and Dembe FM. The Monitor is the largest independent daily in the country. "They claimed to be looking for a document associated with a story that has been widely covered by all media quoting a letter from General David Tinyefuza to the head of the internal intelligence services on an alleged assassination plot," said MPL. ''Instead of carrying out the search, the armed men disabled the printing press, computer servers and radio transmission equipment." Uganda police had earlier raided Monitor Publications Limited (MPL) in Kampala and barred staff from accessing the premises. Kampala had not issued official communication over the raid by the time we went to Press. The police are said to have surrounded the premises at around midday barring employees from leaving or gaining entry into the building. MPL managing director Alex Assimwe said the situation was "surprising and unfortunate". "We are seeing policemen wielding guns but no one is giving us communication on what is happening," Mr Assimwe said. "But we are trying to make sure the situation normalises as early as possible." He later said in a statement: "We are horrified by this act, which is a gross disregard of Ugandan Law and a violation of The Monitor's constitutional right." Other reports indicate that the Red Pepper Newspaper, was also under police siege. Security sources say the Ugandan government is cracking the whip over media's reporting of the frenzy surrounding President Yoweri Museveni's son Muhoozi Kainerugaba's possible prospects for being president dubbed by Coordinator of Intelligence Services Gen David Sejusa as "Muhoozi Project". Early this month, Daily Monitor published a letter by Gen Sejusa addressed to the director of the Internal Security Organisation Col Ronnie Balya, asking that he investigates claims that there were plans to eliminate government officials opposed to the "Muhoozi Project". Defence minister Crispus Kiyonga last week told Parliament that the alleged project aimed at assisting Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba succeed his father as president does not exist. Gen Sejusa, who is on a foreign trip is scheduled to return to Uganda anytime. Reports of his anticipated return has been met with heavy security deployment along Entebbe Road. "It is particularly perturbing that the police ordered our operations shut down under the pretext of carrying out a search," said Mr Assimwe. (c) 2013 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |