KAMPALA
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) executive director, Nyombi Thembo, has told journalists not to turn to the communications regulator when they are assaulted while covering elections, insisting that such matters fall outside his mandate.
“I regulate communication. Please, please, please. Don’t give me other mandates,” Nyombi said on Monday at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala. “If a policeman beats you, you go to the police council. You complain to the police. You complain to the leaders. Don’t involve me when you are beaten. I have too much on my plate.”
Nyombi was responding to concerns raised by journalists over fears of being beaten, harassed or arrested by security personnel while covering the ongoing electoral processes.
He urged journalists to exercise caution and to understand the risks associated with election coverage, stressing that UCC’s role is limited to regulating the communications sector and does not extend to providing physical protection to media practitioners in the field.
“You are journalists. You know where to go,” he said, adding that the regulator would not assume responsibilities assigned to other institutions.
However, violence against journalists in Uganda has been persistent, particularly during election periods. During the 2020/2021 general elections, several journalists were assaulted while covering opposition activities.
In November 2020, journalist Moses Bwayo was shot in the face with a rubber bullet as he filmed National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi arriving at his party offices. A month later, Top TV journalist Ashraf Kasirye was seriously injured after police shot him while covering a Kyagulanyi rally.
Security forces have also been accused of beating journalists covering student protests and of using enforcement of COVID-19 regulations as a pretext to assault media workers. On January 8, 2021, then Inspector General of Police Martin Okoth Ochola publicly warned journalists ahead of the elections, saying: “We shall beat you for your own sake.”
On February 17, 2021, military police assaulted at least 10 journalists who were covering Kyagulanyi as he delivered a petition to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Kampala, protesting alleged human rights abuses and abductions of his supporters.
Although the army later apologised and said seven military police officers had been given a “severe reprimand” and sentenced to two months’ detention, details of the investigations and trial process were not made public.
More recently, attacks on journalists have continued. On February 26, 2025, Top TV journalist Miracle Ibrah was brutally assaulted by two masked officers allegedly attached to the Joint Anti-Terrorist Task Force while covering the arrest of an opposition parliamentary by-election candidate in Kampala. The assault reportedly nearly cost him his eyesight.
At least a dozen journalists were also attacked and injured while covering the Kawempe North by-elections on March 13. More than 30 journalists, including Hasifah Nanvuma of Nation Media Group, Hassan Wasswa of NBS Television, David Ijjo of NTV Uganda and Abubaker Lubowa of Daily Monitor, were beaten by security forces, with several requiring urgent medical treatment.
NBS TV journalists Hakim Wampamba and Francis Isano were beaten and arrested, while reports indicated that some journalists, particularly those working with Nation Media Group, were deliberately targeted.
Media rights groups have repeatedly called on authorities to ensure the safety of journalists, especially during elections, warning that continued attacks undermine press freedom and the public’s right to information.
