Kampala — The government paid approximately 3.1 billion Shillings to Daily Monitor in 2025, more than a decade after security agencies illegally shut down the newspaper and its sister media outlets in one of Uganda's most significant press freedom cases.
URN has established that the government settled the entire amount in a single payment after opting not to appeal a High Court judgment that declared the 2013 closure unlawful.
"The payment covered the court award, accumulated interest, legal costs and related expenses," a source familiar with the settlement told URN on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on behalf of the company.
The settlement was also publicly referenced by Monitor co-founder and former editor Philip Wafula Oguttu during a television talk show, where he argued that the current shutdown of Nation Media Group could expose the government to similar legal liability.
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"The shutdown of Nation Media Group by one person was done illegally, and they will pay for it. The last time they closed Monitor in May 2013, we sued them, and they paid us 3 billion Shillings," Oguttu said while commenting on the ongoing closure.
The payment stemmed from a landmark judgment delivered on August 16, 2018, by High Court Commercial Division Judge Justice David Wangutsi in Civil Suit No. 747 of 2013, in which Monitor Publications Limited sued the Attorney General over the shutdown. The dispute originated in May 2013 after Daily Monitor published a story titled "Probe Assassination Claims, Says Tinyefuza."
The report was based on a leaked letter written by Gen. David Tinyefuza, later known as David Sejjusa, then the Coordinator of Intelligence Services, alleging a plot to assassinate senior government and military officials opposed to the so-called "Muhoozi Project." The publication triggered a swift response from security agencies.
On May 20, 2013, armed police surrounded Monitor Publications' headquarters in Namuwongo, declared the premises a crime scene and shut down Daily Monitor, KFM and Dembe FM. Printing operations, radio broadcasts and digital services were all suspended. The closure lasted 11 days before police withdrew, allowing the company to resume operations.
Monitor Publications subsequently sought legal redress, culminating in the judgment that the government finally settled in full in 2025. In his ruling, Justice Wangutsi found that the police had acted unlawfully and exceeded the scope of the search warrant issued by the court.
While officers had initially sought a specific document, the judge held that they went far beyond their mandate by switching off radio transmitters, shutting down the printing press and computer servers, confiscating equipment and effectively bringing the entire media operation to a standstill.
The court further noted that police continued occupying the company's Namuwongo premises even after the magistrate's court cancelled the search warrant on May 22, 2013, having found that officers had exceeded their authority. Although the Attorney General argued that the premises remained a "scene of crime" under Section 27 of the Police Act, the court rejected that position, holding that the state had failed to comply with the law or provide evidence justifying the continued closure.
"It did not show that the country underwent tension or that the letter caused ethnic hatred or created divisions amongst tribes or caused insecurity. No disturbance of law and order has been proved because of that publication," Justice Wangutusi ruled.
The judge also observed that neither the journalists involved nor Gen. David Sejusa, whose leaked letter formed the basis of the disputed story, were ever prosecuted, significantly weakening the government's assertion that the publication posed a threat to national security.
The court awarded Monitor Publications Ltd 945.1 million Shillings in special damages after deducting expenses the company would have incurred even if operations had continued. It further awarded 100 million Shillings in general damages and 100 million Shillings in aggravated damages, citing what it described as the high-handed and oppressive conduct of state authorities, including threats and assaults against members of staff.
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Justice Wangutsi also ordered that the special damages attract interest at 18 per cent per annum from the date the suit was filed until full payment. Interest on the general and aggravated damages was set at 6 per cent per annum from the date of judgment until settlement. In addition, the government was ordered to pay the costs of the suit.
The court also certified costs for two counsel, enabling Monitor Publications to recover legal fees incurred in engaging two lawyers. With the accumulated interest, legal costs and other court-awarded expenses, the government's total payout reached approximately Shs3.1 billion, bringing to a close a legal battle that underscored the constitutional protections afforded to media freedom and the financial consequences of unlawful state action.
