Security forces Injure Journalists covering Makerere University

Two journalists working with the Nation Media Group – Uganda have been hospitalized after they were injured by security forces while covering a protest at Makerere University.

Geoffrey Twesigye a Journalist with NTV and Daily Monitor’s Alex Esagala are admitted at International Hospital Kampala after a teargas canister thrown by police exploded and injured them. The journalists were also beaten up by security agencies.

Members of security forces also beat up KFM’s Stephen Mbidde and other journalists.

In a related development, NBS TV condemned what it calls assault on their journalists.

“We express concern, and condemn, the brutal assault of our Journalists by a section of the security on duty on the Makerere University premises, on the 29th of October, 2019.  Our journalists, who were out to perform their core mandate of telling an objective story, guided by their primary ethics, among which are fairness and impartiality, independence and accountability to our viewers, were openly attacked,”

“As Next Media Services, we commit to remaining steadfast in our cause, and request that the Uganda Police Force and her sister agencies maintain a standard of respect towards the duty we ought to play to Ugandans,”  reads the statement issued this afternoon.

Students of Makerere University have since October 22 been protesting the policy on tuition increament on grounds that it was unfair and making education services expensive at Uganda’s oldest public university.

In an emergency meeting with student leaders on Tuesday, the university council agreed to scrap the 15 percent increment from functional fees but maintained that the 15 percent fees adjustment shall continue to be applied on tuition fees for the remaining period of three years.