Tanzanian billionaire Rostam Aziz meets Muhoozi in Entebbe as NMG shutdown drags on

Rostam Aziz, the Tanzanian billionaire who completed his takeover of Nation Media Group barely four months ago, flew to Entebbe on July 1, 2026, and sat across the table from General Muhoozi Kainerugaba at the Special Forces Command headquarters to negotiate the reopening of the media outlets the general had shut down with a 1:07am social media post three days earlier.

Aziz was accompanied by his son Saam Aziz and Georgia Mutagaywa, chief of staff at Taarifa Limited, the holding company through which he controls NMG. Journalist and Patriotic League of Uganda leader Andrew Mwenda, who has served as an informal intermediary between Muhoozi and international media interests, was also present. Acting UPDF Director of Defence Public Information Col. Chris Magezi attended for the military side.

According to a statement from the meeting, the parties reviewed specific instances of what the government considers biased and malicious reporting by the group. The NMG ownership committed to pursuing a more patriotic, balanced and objective approach to journalism going forward. Muhoozi said after the meeting that he would submit a report on the discussions to President Yoweri Museveni before a final decision is made on reopening the affected outlets.

Muhoozi gave no timeline for the reopening. The decision, according to his own account, now rests with his father.

The media outlets have been dark since the night of June 27-28, when armed security personnel deployed to NMG's headquarters in Namuwongo, Kampala and its broadcast facility at the Kampala Serena Hotel before 5:00am, forcing NTV Uganda, Spark TV, KFM and Dembe FM off air and preventing staff from entering the Daily Monitor's print facility. The shutdown followed a series of posts on X by Muhoozi in which he accused NMG of running a sustained campaign of blackmail against the government and promoting opposition and foreign interests. He declared that all negative stories about Uganda would henceforth require clearance from his office and stated that he did not believe in a free press. He later wrote that he had had the power to shut down any media house since 2017, a power he said was given to him by his father.

No court order, regulatory notice or formal legal instrument has been produced to justify the closure. The Uganda Communications Commission said it was consulting relevant government stakeholders. The UPDF and Uganda Police Force have not formally explained the operation. Despite the physical shutdown of its broadcasting and printing operations, NMG Uganda has continued publishing through its digital platforms.

Aziz's decision to travel personally to the Special Forces Command, rather than send legal representatives or issue statements through his communications team, reflects the commercial and reputational urgency of the situation. NMG Uganda employs more than 500 people. Its outlets, including NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor, represent the country's most widely read and most watched independent journalism across print, broadcast and digital. NMG Uganda's revenues and editorial standing are both directly dependent on the continued operation of those outlets.

When Aziz acquired NMG's controlling stake from the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development in March 2026, ending a 66-year Aga Khan stewardship over East Africa's most influential media institution, he pledged that the acquisition was purely commercial and that his relationships with regional political leaders were personal matters unrelated to editorial decisions. He said the company's editorial independence would be maintained. The July 1 Entebbe meeting, in which the owners of the company committed in principle to more patriotic journalism as a condition of having their outlets unshuttered, will now be measured against that pledge.

Whether the commitment made at Entebbe satisfies Museveni and produces a formal reopening order, and on what conditions, will determine the immediate fate of more than 500 journalists and media workers and the long-term credibility of NMG Uganda's journalism in a country that has consistently ranked among the world's more restrictive environments for press freedom.