{"id":21977,"date":"2026-01-05T11:17:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T09:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/uganda-bans-live-broadcasts-of-riots-unlawful-processions-ahead-of-vote\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:32:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:32:58","slug":"uganda-bans-live-broadcasts-of-riots-unlawful-processions-ahead-of-vote","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/uganda-bans-live-broadcasts-of-riots-unlawful-processions-ahead-of-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda bans live broadcasts of riots, &#8216;unlawful processions&#8217; ahead of vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Uganda&#8217;s government said on Monday it was banning live broadcasts of riots, &#8220;unlawful processions&#8221; and other violent incidents ahead of an election in which President Yoweri Museveni is seeking to extend his 40-year rule.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">The authorities have detained hundreds of opposition supporters ahead of the January 15 election, which will again pit the 81-year-old Museveni against the 43-year-old pop star turned politician Bobi Wine.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">&#8220;Live broadcasting or streaming of riots, unlawful processions, or violent incidents is prohibited, as it can escalate tensions and spread panic,&#8221; the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology said in a statement.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Authorities often describe anti-government protests as riots.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">The Ministry also prohibited the dissemination of any content it described as &#8220;inciting, hateful or violent&#8221;.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">More than 50 people were killed before the last election in 2021 in crackdowns by security forces against Wine supporters, who accused Museveni of stealing the election, which he denied.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Museveni, who came to power in 1986 after leading a five-year rebellion, is Africa&#8217;s third longest ruling, opens new tab Head of State.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Critics and rights groups have long accused his government&#8217;s security forces of torturing and intimidating opponents to maintain his grip on power, allegations he has denied.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Rights group Amnesty International said on Monday that Ugandan security forces had launched a &#8220;brutal campaign of repression&#8221; against Wine&#8217;s supporters in the run-up to the election, subjecting them to arbitrary arrests, beatings and torture.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Spokesperson for the government and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statement.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Another major opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, remains in prison more than a year after he was detained on treason charges. He denies the charges.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21978,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-21977","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":null,"news_description":"Uganda banning live broadcasts of riots","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/21977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/21977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25436,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/21977\/revisions\/25436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=21977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}