The Kawempe North by-election descended into a battlefield today as multiple journalists covering the polls were badly assaulted, arrested, and transported away in police drone vehicles.
This has caused concerns over press freedom amid an already volatile electoral process.
The violence started early Thursday morning across different polling stations in Kawempe North, a National Unity Platform strong household.
Assaults were first reported by an NBS Television’s Canary Mugume, who narrowly escaped a beating by masked Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers.
The situation worsened as everal journalists, including Abubaker Lubowa (Daily Monitor), Raymond Tamale (NTV), Dennis Kabugo (NTV), Francis Isano (NBS), and Hakim Wampamba (NBS), were reportedly beaten by armed men in uniform, their cameras confiscated.
The backdrop to today’s unrest includes NUP allegations of electoral malpractice, with Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi and Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya raiding a Nammere residence yesterday over suspected pre-ticked ballot pappers, an incident that also saw journalists assaulted.
Some NTV Uganda journalists were seen gathering at ntv offices after being evacuated from Kawempe North by security operatives.