Musaazi NAMITI | The Founder’s Mind Space
In September 2006, Odrek Rwabwogo, President Yoweri Museveni’s son-in-law, wrote an article responding to what political commentator Andrew Mwenda had written about him and the First Family—and he was unsparing.
He said Mr Mwenda, who had written a column alleging he was living off taxpayers’ money and that the First Family was milking Ugandans, had abandoned journalism ethics and become a political activist masquerading as a journalist.
His article, published by the New Vision, portrayed Daily Monitor as a newspaper lacking professionalism and strong editorial standards. He extended his criticism to individuals, including Wafula Oguttu, the co-founder of the Daily Monitor, and Timothy Kalyegira, a columnist.
Mr Rwabwogo alleged that Mr Oguttu puts tribe before merit, recalling a time, in 1993, when he interviewed for an entry-level administrative officer position at the Uganda Think Tank Foundation and was rejected in favour of a candidate who had finished second.
“I was later told by [Elly] Karuhanga I had won, but Oguttu, who had been a panelist, had told his colleagues that he would not have another Munyankole in the organisation. He preferred a fellow Easterner who had come second in the interview,” Mr Rwabwogo wrote.
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Of Mr Kalyegira, he wrote that after six months working as a consultant for his company, Terp Consult, he had failed to produce a work plan. Mr Rwabwogo concluded that the Daily Monitor journalists were “unemployable and can only sell politics”.
The passage of time changes people and things in ways that are sometimes hard to understand. Now Mr Rwabwogo is speaking a different language since his brother-in-law, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the army chief, ordered the Daily Monitor and its broadcasters—NTV, Spark TV, KFM and Ddembe FM—shut down.
Can Uganda build a $500 billion economy if people are afraid to speak? | Odrek Rwabwogo
— Odrek Rwabwogo (@OdrekRwabwogo) July 17, 2026
Fear disables citizens.
Silence weakens institutions.
Suppressed opinion kills national confidence.
We grow by listening, talking to each other, and exercising restraint.
Uganda must keep… pic.twitter.com/tAWgAuX0qP
He has emerged as one of the more prominent voices arguing that Uganda cannot increase its economy tenfold when people are not allowed to speak freely. He even visited Mr Kalyegira in prison after the columnist was arrested and remanded during the crackdown.
On June 26, I was arrested and driven in an SFC drone to a basement.
— Timothy Kalyegira (@TimKalyegira) July 10, 2026
Reason? "Why do you hate the First Family?"
On July 1, my friend Odrek Rwabwogo visited me at Luzira prison and also brought greetings from his wife Patience, President Museveni's daughter.
So, there we are.
The irony is hard to ignore. When Mr Mwenda wrote his scathing article about Mr Rwabwogo and the First Family, he was a high-flying journalist and had been selected to attend a prestigious journalism fellowship at Stanford University.
While Mr Rwabwogo, who worked briefly as a reporter for the pro-government New Vision, has called for free speech, including allowing the critical media to operate unhindered, Mr Mwenda has been used as a megaphone to tell Ugandans why Daily Monitor had to be shut down by his friend, Gen Kainerugaba.
Mr Mwenda is a senior member of the Patriotic League of Uganda, a nascent political outfit founded by Gen Kainerugaba, and his interests appear to have shifted significantly and now have little to do with supporting press freedom.
Citing Gen Kainerugaba, he said recently that the Daily Monitor was shut down because 97% of its coverage of the government was negative. That raised questions as to whether negative news necessarily translates into bias.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OUR READERS OFTEN ASK
The shutdown of the Daily Monitor is now in its third week. While Mr Mwenda’s position is understandable, Mr Rwabwogo’s raises deeper questions. His brother-in-law and his father-in-law both have no kind words for the Daily Monitor. Mr Museveni has singled out the paper for criticism, even at events attended by his regional counterparts.
The shutdown, it should be noted, is the third since October 2002. Gen Kainerugaba himself said it was approved by his father.
If Mr Rwabwogo wants government critics to speak freely and the critical media to report unhindered while the two most powerful Ugandans want them silenced, how far can he go? Can he prevail on them to back down?
And is he really concerned about free speech or is he eyeing a political career and wants to look good in the eyes of Ugandans who are fed up with repression? Mr Rwabwogo has previously sought to enter politics, making the question a legitimate one.
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DISCLOSURE: The author of this article writes a column for the Weekend Monitor as an independent contractor.
🔴 Musaazi Namiti is the Founder and Editorial Director of OJ-UGANDA. He previously led the Africa Desk at Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, worked for Globe Media Asia in Cambodia and writes a widely read column for Uganda’s Weekend Monitor. His work has been quoted by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Jeune Afrique, The Africa Report—not for playing it safe, but for saying what others will not.