Uganda: No, President Museveni Didn't Warn CNN Journalist Larry Madowo Against Entering Uganda to Cover 2026 Elections

1 December 2025
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Dancan Bwire

No, president Museveni didn't warn CNN journalist Larry Madowo against entering Uganda to cover 2026 elections

IN SHORT: A video showing Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni apparently warning Kenyan journalist Larry Madowo against visiting Uganda to report on elections has gone viral. However, it is fake.

In a video posted on Facebook, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni appears to warn Kenyan journalist Larry Madowo against visiting the country to cover elections.

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"Those international media sometimes are inciting, especially when African countries are having elections. Next year we will be having general elections here in Uganda," he appears to say, in part.

"Please tell people like Larry Madowo not to step their feet here. I saw what you did in Tanzania, but I don't want to see you here in Uganda. You will see fire. Stay away," he warns.

Madowo reports for CNN, a US-based news network.

In November, he reported on election-related deaths in Tanzania that implicated Tanzanian security forces and also exposed sites resembling mass graves.

The country held its presidential election on 29 October 2025. Protests erupted on the same day, resulting in deaths and destruction of property. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner with 98% of the vote, but the opposition rejected the results.

Hassan's government claimed Madowo's report was biased.

Museveni came to power as a rebel leader in 1986 and is now one of Africa's longest-serving presidents.

Uganda is set to hold elections in 2026 and Museveni will be seeking re-election. Members of parliament have amended the constitution twice to enable the incumbent president to run indefinitely.

But has Museveni actually warned Madowo against visiting Uganda? We checked.

AI-manipulated video

Africa Check noted that the video had a watermark of "UG FILES". We searched for the channel on YouTube and found it.

We scoured the channel for the original video and found that it was published on 6 November 2023 under the title: "HARD TALK: GERMANY PRESS ASKS MUSEVENI TOUGH QUESTIONS | WISE RESPONSE."

To determine whether we had found the exact video, we closely examined the section where Museveni made specific gestures and compared it with the original video. We found a match.

In that section, he was talking about how rich the African continent is in terms of resources. At no point did he mention Tanzania or Madowo.

The circulating video combines an authentic clip with audio generated using artificial intelligence tools to make it sound like Museveni is addressing Madowo.

The claims made in the video are false and should not be trusted.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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