Ham Kiggundu’s increasing crackdown on journalism in Uganda
This is not the first time that Kiggundu is working with police to arrest and illegally detain journalists who have written stories he deems unfriendly about him or his businesses.
President Yoweri Museveni’s name and the First Family were put into controversy after the Hamis Kiggundu inspired-arrest of journalist Dickson Mubiru who runs the newspapers Ono Bwino and Top Secrets.
Mubiru also runs an online publication called the Grapevine. He runs the three publications under his company New Grace Publications Limited.
According to a statement by Uganda Journalist Association, the Nkurumah Police Post that effected the arrest on 30th December said Mubiru had been been arrested on orders from State House because he had published news reports that annoyed the First Family.
The allegations by Nkurumah Road Police Post, that the First Family ordered the arrest of Mubiru, were refuted by Sandoor Walusimbi, the Senior Presidential Press Secretary to President Museveni.
“The Presidential Press Unit (PPU) wishes to inform the General Public that the arrest of journalist Mr. Dickson Mubiru of the Grapevine online publication and Ono ye Bwino has nothing to do with the First Family or State House,” Walusimbi said.
“Rather, the arrest arises from a complaint filed by Mr Hamis Kiggundu according to Kira Road Police DPC, SP Ssenyonjo Abbas,” Walusimbi clarified.
After his arrest, Mubiru was taken from Nkurumah Road Police to Kira Road Police from where he managed to get a Police bond, late in the evening.
Upon his release, in a narration published on the Grapevine websites, Mubiru said: “I would like to state that my arrest has got nothing to do with State House, the First Family, my arrest had been fueled by a one Hamis Kiggundu who had earlier promised to spend One billion shilling on me if I don’t apologize over the stories we wrote in our publications, Ono Bwino and Top Secrets newspaper,”
He added:”Ham Kiggundu has spent eight days trying to intimidate us into apologising to him through a statement and an apology, even after we told him that we are ready to defend whatever we wrote in courts of law.”
This is not the first time that Kiggundu is working with police to arrest and illegally detain journalists who have written stories he deems unfriendly to him or his businesses.
On 30th August, 2022, Kiggundu ordered the arrest and detention of Asiteza Remmy, the editor of Daily Express, an online publication before he was released on 1st September, 2022.
He was detained at Kira Division Police Headquarters.
The reason for the arrest of Remmy is that he allegedly wrote a falsified story about Kiggundu and his Ham Enterprises.
Press freedom defenders have overtime called for complainants to take the due legal processes when handling matters that deem unjust or illegal instead of gagging freedoms of the media and speech.
