Ugandan army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba shut down major media outlets on Sunday, ordering the closure of NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor and expanding the crackdown to other outlets linked to the Nation Media Group and related companies.

The Daily Monitor said it was “under military siege,” with armed soldiers stationed outside its Kampala headquarters and staff reporting they were not allowed in or out. NTV and other affected stations reportedly stopped broadcasting in the early hours, with screens displaying a “video unavailable” message.

Kainerugaba said on social media that he does not believe in a free press and that media should be guided by what he called “cadres of the revolution.” He also asserted that President Yoweri Museveni—who has ruled Uganda for decades—approved the shutdown orders, and he said the outlets would not reopen without his permission. He added that “all media in Uganda will follow the rules,” framing the move as expanding control over the information space.

Media rights and opposition figures condemned the action as a troubling escalation in a broader pattern of repression. Uganda’s media freedom conditions have drawn international criticism, and the country has previously ranked low on global press-freedom indexes.

The shutdown is widely seen against a backdrop of rising pressure around succession politics, with many observers viewing Kainerugaba as positioning himself to take over from Museveni.