Barely two years after The Monitor was founded in 1992, government officials deemed its independent reporting intolerable. In an attempt to financially cripple the newspaper, the government imposed a ban on advertising in The Monitor, a significant blow given that the state was, and remains, one of the country’s largest advertisers.
Despite severe financial strain, the founders of The Monitor remained committed to independent journalism, covering sensitive issues such as the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Lord’s Resistance Army rebellion in northern Uganda, and corruption within government institutions. They continued this work until 1997, when the government lifted the advertising ban.
Although the ban was lifted partly due to pressure from donors, who demanded that publicly funded projects meet basic standards and be equitably advertised across both public and private media, government officials maintained a hostile stance toward The Monitor. The newspaper’s coverage of human rights abuses during Uganda’s military engagements particularly angered authorities, who frequently accused it of sympathising with rebel groups. On September 21, 1997, The Monitor published a story about the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which the government claimed was false. Consequently, on October 24, 997, Editor Charles Onyango-Obbo and senior reporter Andrew Mwenda were charged in court with publishing false news.
Both journalists petitioned the Constitutional Court, arguing that the charges violated their rights and that the offence of false news was inconsistent with the Constitution. The petition halted their prosecution in the lower court. Years later, the courts agreed with the journalists, ruling that the offence of publishing false news infringed on fundamental rights. Amid growing state repression, The Monitor’s founders sought financial stability and protection from government pressure by partnering with investors. In 2000, they sold a portion of their shares in Monitor Publications Limited to Nation Media Group (NMG), a regional media powerhouse.
But government pressure persisted.
On October 9, 2002, during his Independence Day speech, President Museveni labelled The Monitor an ‘enemy newspaper.’ The following day, police and other security personnel raided The Monitor offices and shut them down after the paper published a story claiming rebels had shot down a UPDF helicopter. The newspaper remained closed for 10 days. Security forces seized computers, documents, and electronic equipment. Although The Monitor eventually resumed operations, several top editors resigned due to pressure on the shareholders.
Three years later, government agents returned, this time targeting The Monitor’s radio station, KFM. On August 10, 2005, Mr Mwenda, who was hosting a talk show on KFM, was arrested mid-broadcast while discussing the crash of the presidential helicopter that killed Sudan’s Vice President Dr John Garang, his entourage, and UPDF soldiers. State agents accused Mr Mwenda of sedition and promoting sectarianism, claiming KFM failed to meet minimum broadcasting standards. The Broadcasting Council shut down the station. KFM was reopened days later but fined millions of shillings. Mr Mwenda later petitioned the Constitutional Court to nullify the charges.
As pressure on The Monitor continued, NMG launched a television station under Africa Broadcasting Uganda Limited. This gave birth to NTV Uganda and was launched in December 2006. Just a month later, the government took NTV off the air, claiming the station had not met licensing standards. Investors and staff endured over three months of uncertainty until the station was allowed to resume broadcasting in April 2007. Soon after, police again targeted The Monitor. In September 2007, police accused the newspaper of incitement following a story about police recruitment. Authorities demanded a retraction or threatened legal action. The Monitor stood its ground, and police eventually backed off.
For the next four years, Uganda experienced widespread protests over the proposed destruction of Mabira Forest, the Walk-to-Work campaign, the Kayiira report, and disillusionment on the general elections. NMG journalists were frequently targeted by state agencies for their coverage. Many were summoned for police interrogations, some spending hundreds of hours in questioning, while others faced court proceedings. The most aggressive attack came on May 20, 2013, when police surrounded Monitor Publications Limited’s headquarters in Namuwongo, Kampala’s Industrial Area, and shut down its newspapers and radio stations. The raid followed a story about a letter allegedly authored by then-Coordinator of Military Intelligence Gen David Sejusa (formerly Tinyefunza). Security personnel occupied the premises for 11 days.
In March 2015, after publishing critical reports, Parliament sent away NMG journalists, part of a group of 53 reporters, from covering proceedings in the August House. Even after NMG sent a new team, Parliament’s leadership continued to express dissatisfaction with their reporting and scrutinised their accreditation.
In February 2019, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) ordered the shutdown of the Daily Monitor website following a complaint by then-Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga. The website had published a story alleging that she failed to pay for services from a traditional healer. Ms Kadaga wrote to UCC, claiming the story was false and defamatory. The Monitor maintained that it had followed all legal and editorial standards.
This year, state actors have grown increasingly aggressive and violent.
During the Kawempe North by-election, armed security personnel targeted journalists from NMG and other outlets. Reporters, clearly marked, were beaten, and their equipment destroyed. Despite promises from security agencies to investigate the attacks, no action has been taken so far. In May 2025, the government threatened the Daily Monitor with punitive measures over headlines deemed critical of its leadership. ‘Today’s headline by the Monitor newspaper is unacceptable,’ said Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi. ‘Despite my counsel to their top management regarding yesterday’s offensive headline, the paper continues to act with impunity,’ he added. The newspaper had on May 21, published a story titled ‘Goodbye rule of law, till we meet again’ following the passage of the UPDF Amendment Bill, 2025, which reinstated the trial of civilians in military courts.
Museveni’s comments about The Monitor
1. I have told you the problem with elections in Uganda has been multiple voting. What level playing field are they talking about? The radios are everywhere, I am the one who does not have a level playing field with [Daily] Monitor newspaper…They would put Besigye on top of me. They would use a big picture of Besigye, exaggerating rallies and they shrink mine or they take away a part. That Monitor here, I have defeated them,’ President Museveni said at his maiden press briefing following his victory in the February 20, 2016, polls.
2. «There’s a paper called Monitor. That Monitor is full of foreign agents. And I have now sent people to analyse them. We know who they are now and for whom they are working…They were those headlines they were carrying recently….’Hooo! Uganda has collapsed now’. You could trace them (headlines). This where the anti-NRM foreign agents in the Monitor paper become a comic group. When the incident like the one of Nyabugando unfortunately happens, they come saying security has collapsed,» Mr Museveni on July 20, 2023 after ADF attacked Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe killing over 40 students.
3. ‘In the meantime, I’m going to get from Daily Monitor money for my NRM party because they said I had hidden and vaccinated myself secretly, with my wife. Haaaa they are going to get me some money….I have already put the case in court, Monitor I’m going to make you bankrupt unless they apologize and lie down and say sorry sorry. If they don’t I really going to go for them. That I’m a selfish man who hid with my wife we injected ourselves when other Ugandans were at risk. That’s not Sabalwanyi, Sabalwanyi doesn’t behave like that,’ President Museveni during Women’s Day celebrations at State House Entebbe on 8 March 2021.