Nation Media turns to public for support as high level discussions for reopening kick off

According to Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Nation Media Group in Uganda is incurring losses to a tune of $5millions or about Shs 18.3billion every day. The company is now appealing to the public for donations

Nation Media Group (NMG) Uganda has appealed for public financial support as negotiations to reopen its media outlets gather pace following their shutdown during an overnight security operation.

The NMG’s Ugandan operations which include Daily Monitor, NTV, Spark TV Ddembe FM and KM were switched off on Sunday morning, and their premises taken over by security.

With the jobs of over 1000 employees and advertising revenue in uncertainty, the company is now turning to the public seeking donations.

Daily Monitor, one of the outlets, has shared a donation link where members of the public can contribute amounts ranging from Shs 5000 to 500,000.

The donation page invites members of the public to make one-time, monthly or annual contributions in support of what it describes as "independent journalism and the power of fact-based reporting."

Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who is at the forefront of the crisis, yesterday bragged about the staggering financial losses that the company is incurring.

Security personnel deployed at Nation Media Group (NMG) Uganda premises in Namuwongo

“I hear both NTV and Daily Moniter are losing 5million dollars a day from my closure. That’s Good News for me,” he posted.

The fundraising drive coincided with signs that talks aimed at restoring the affected media outlets had begun.

Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) spokesperson Andrew Mwenda said he had held discussions with Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and that they had agreed to reopen the Daily Monitor and NTV Uganda after engaging the management of the two sister companies.

"I have just held discussions with Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and we, as leaders of PLU, have agreed that we shall reopen both Daily Monitor and NTV soon. However, we shall first have discussions with the management of both sister companies," Mwenda said

Gen Kainerugaba later confirmed that discussions were underway, announcing, “...we are having discussions with our allies in the UK and Europe about re-opening both NTV and Daily Monitor. We shall take the results of these discussions to Mzee for final approval.”

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