Was NTV’s Sister Station Banned from Any Presidential Function? Here’s the Truth

Earlier this week, State House directed that NTV’s sister station, NTV Uganda, should not be allowed to cover all presidential functions.

According to reports, the station was suspended for alleging that the president was ‘sleeping’ during the recent budget reading. The express orders were allegedly communicated to the head of news department at the television, Maurice Mugisha on Tuesday morning.

Sources said the decision to temporary blacklist NTV followed a news story in which reporters alleged that President Museveni was among government officials who were deep asleep during the reading of the national budget last week.

President Museveni

Officials allegedly maintained that Museveni was not sleeping as alleged by NTV but meditating with his eyes closed.

“Even during our internal meetings at State House, he sometimes closes his eyes to meditate. This is not a new thing,” said a high ranking official, adding, “All we want is NTV to give respect to the President. Whether you like him or not, you can’t make fun of him in a very disparaging way. A President is a President.”

However, the station has come out to deny the allegations.

According to a statement posted on its Facebook page this morning, the allegations are baseless and have been fanned by some reckless persons/media outlets. Here’s the statement;

“NTV (U) would like to dismiss the social media allegations that it has been suspended from covering Presidential functions as false, baseless and untrue.

These allegations have been fanned by some reckless persons/media outlets following an image posted on social media depicting the person of the President in a compromising position. NTV would like to confirm that the image was taken and posted by an unknown person with the intention of tarnishing the image of the station and the President.

We urge whoever is behind these viral allegations to stop henceforth or else face the consequences of these actions going forward. NTV (U) is committed to its editorial policy of fair, accurate and balanced reporting and would like to disassociate itself from such irresponsible acts.

We continue to shape the agenda of debate on Uganda and for Uganda and pride in professional reporting. We apologize to the President for this mishap and urge our viewers to exercise restraint while sharing our images on social media.

Management
NTV UGANDA”