Summary:
Four journalists have been ambushed, assaulted, and whisked away in an unmarked drone vehicle by heavily armed security operatives.
KAMPALA: Kawempe North has turned into a battleground—not for votes, but for press freedom. In a shocking escalation of state aggression, four journalists were ambushed, assaulted, and whisked away in an unmarked drone vehicle by heavily armed security operatives.
The abducted journalists include Isano Francis (NBS TV), Raymond Tamale (NTV), Dennis Kabugo, and Abubaker Lubowa (Daily Monitor) were covering the tense by-election when they were brutally rounded up and dragged into the ominous drone. Their whereabouts remain uncertain.
A few lucky ones managed to evade capture. David Ijjo (NTV), Hassan Wasswa (NBS TV), and Hakim Wampamba (NBS TV) slipped through the chaos, narrowly escaping what could have been a fate worse than detention.
Eyewitnesses report that security forces systematically hunted down the press, targeting them as they documented the unfolding election.
The arrests were not random journalists were singled out, their cameras seized, and their voices silenced.
Senior NBS TV journalist Canary Mugume sounded the alarm, warning that the military’s presence felt disturbingly out of place.
“This isn’t just about security. This feels like a calculated operation. Soldiers armed to the teeth, unmarked vehicles prowling the streets, number plates stripped it’s like they want to erase any evidence of their actions,” Mugume stated.
With UPDF soldiers patrolling aggressively and drones hovering over polling stations, a climate of fear has gripped Kawempe North. Voters whisper in hushed tones, journalists flee for their safety, and media houses reel from yet another assault on press freedom.
The abductions have ignited outrage, with calls mounting for authorities to stop the crackdown on journalists. Yet, as the by-election continues under the suffocating grip of security forces, one question lingers was this ever about democracy, or is something far more sinister unfolding in the shadows?
