Muhoozi to Meet Media Bosses Next Week

The Chief of Defense Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has said he is going to meet with some of the media owners and managing directors next week.

This development comes just a day after another meeting convened by the Uganda Communication Commission at the behest of Muhoozi. 

Writing on his favourite social media channel X, Muhoozi thanked the state minister of Children and Youth, Balaam Barugahara and the UCC executive director  Nyombi Thembo for convening the meeting that was also attended by the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces.  “I thank Hon.Balaam and Hon. Nyombi Thembo for their great work. I will meet with some of the media owners and MDs next week. The cadre course begins in June,” Muhoozi said on X. 

Last week, Muhoozi tweeted that he was going to begin auditing media houses.  “My office will soon begin an Audit on ALL media houses. These are the instructions of the Commander-in-Chief.

All of you will report to my office from now,” Muhoozi tweeted on February 23. In another tweet, he added that he was going to organize a cadreship course for all media managers, which he delegated Balaam, who is also the vice chairman for his Patriotic League of Uganda, to handle.    

Many people who read the tweet thought it was the usual banter from Muhoozi, who has in the past courted controversy by tweeting contentious issues like attacking neighbouring countries. 

However, this week, UCC, which is the regulator of broadcast media, put out an invitation to all media managers and owners for a meeting on how to curb hate speech, which they said is becoming detrimental to national security. 

In the meeting held on Thursday at the UCC offices in Bugolobi and attended by managers and owners of media houses, it was resolved that there will be a cadreship training at Kyankwanzi Leadership Training School. 

Balaam said it was the directive of the president and not the CDF that media managers and owners be trained in patriotism. When Muhoozi first fronted the idea of meeting with media managers, it was taken as a joke, but having managed to pull off the meeting and not even with him but with junior officials from security forces, Brig. Felix Kulaigye, the spokesperson of the UPDF and Luke Oweyesigyire, the deputy spokesperson of Kampala Metropolitan Police, it’s almost certain that if Muhoozi insists on his demand for cadreship training, many media owners and managers will positively respond.

As the country heads into the contentious 2026 general elections, the demand for media managers and owners to attend partisan leadership training raises questions about their impartiality.  Meanwhile, Muhoozi’s PLU has vowed to hold a demonstration at the Kenyan High Commission in Uganda to protest how their chairman has been depicted in Kenyan press. 

The Standard Newspaper, one of the leading newspapers in Kenya, had a lead story describing Muhoozi as a four-star brat. The Oxford English dictionary defines a brat as a child, typically one who is badly behaved. 

“PLU is going to hold an energetic demonstration at the Kenyan High Commission next week on Wednesday. They burnt our High Commission last year, and we did not respond; now one of their newspapers has insulted our PLU CHAIRMAN, we will respond with full force,” tweeted MP for Kasambya county David Kabanda, who is also the secretary general of PLU. 

His tweet followed another from Muhoozi, who said his supporters would not look on when he is being insulted. “For those who think they can insult me and escape. They will learn that my supporters, in their millions, will defend me!” Muhoozi tweeted.