A complete overhaul of editorial personnel, specifically the hiring of professional editors and journalists, has been established as a baseline condition for the reopening of Nation Media Group (NMG) Uganda operations.
The conditional terms emerged from a closed-door meeting at the Special Forces Command (SFC) headquarters in Entebbe between the Commander of Defence Forces (CDF), General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and NMG’s top hierarchy, including investor Rostam Aziz and his son Saam Aziz.
Following the discussions, indications emerged that the media platforms could return to the airwaves and print stands sooner than earlier anticipated.
According to veteran journalist and Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) spokesperson Andrew Mwenda, who attended the session alongside the CDF, the resumption of operations is now tied to commitments on what authorities describe as balanced journalism.
"The terms and conditions have been logged," Mwenda stated following the talks. "The government simply wants them to be professional. As a core condition of the agreement to move forward, NMG must hire professional editors and recruit professional journalists who will adhere strictly to a mandate of objective reporting."
Mwenda said discussions had been ongoing behind the scenes and that the latest meeting formalised a path forward.
"Because of the firm commitments made to restructure their standards, we are looking at a reopening of the media company that may happen far sooner than anyone expected," he added.
The conditions were reportedly imposed after Gen Muhoozi presented NMG executives with a detailed intelligence file compiling five years of published content from NTV Uganda, Daily Monitor, and KFM, which authorities described as evidence of persistent political bias.
"The report presented clear evidence that 97% of NMG's top cover stories were negative toward the government," Mwenda revealed.
"Every single infraction committed by the state was reported with heavy exaggeration. In fact, if you looked at their top 100 stories concerning the government, all 100 were aggressively negative.
"Conversely, their top 100 stories regarding the political opposition were strictly sympathetic. It forced a very serious question inside the room: How sure are we that this media house has not been completely infiltrated?"
Interestingly, Mr Mwenda left Daily Monitor (and its affiliate, KFM radio) in 2007 to launch his own news magazine, The Independent.
He said in his resignation letter at the time that he chose to leave because he felt NMG was increasingly compromising the publication's editorial independence and was no longer providing an environment conducive to unfettered debate.
"The interference of the major shareholder in the editorial details of the newspaper is a tragic development," said the man who joined Monitor in 1994 as an intern and would end up in repeated ugly spats with the government over his journalism.
"I have been informed by journalists and editors that they are not allowed to write stories critical of the president and his family. The air in the editorial rooms is suffocating. I hold the values of independence from the state so dearly that I cannot work in such an environment."
But on Wednesday, Mwenda sat in the same room from which the State officials argued during the meeting that NMG had deviated from its independent media mandate, alleging it had increasingly acted as an activist platform.
The controversy surrounding the detention of opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye was cited as the immediate trigger for the shutdown, though Mwenda said the action reflected a longer period of tension with the state.
The development comes amid confirmed reports from the executive arm regarding the origin of the media blackout.
Minister of Information Justine Kasule Lumumba indicated that the deployment that saw armed personnel surround and shut down NMG’s Namuwongo offices and Serena Hotel transmission hubs was sanctioned by President Museveni.
With NMG leadership reportedly acknowledging concerns raised during the Entebbe meeting, Gen. Muhoozi is expected to present a formal report of the agreed terms to the President for final approval.
Should the media group implement the required editorial restructuring, the suspension of operations is expected to be lifted in the coming days.
