news 1 April 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
DigiTalk Journalist Remanded for Allegedly Spreading Fake News on First Lady's Death
Arnold Anthony Mukose, a 41-year-old journalist from DigiTalk Media, was remanded to prison after denying charges of broadcasting fake news claiming Uganda's First Lady Janet Museveni had died. He was reportedly abducted prior to his court appearance at the LDC Chief Magistrate's Court in Kampala. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/journalist-remanded-on-charges-of-broadcasting-fake-news-sending-false-signals-about-uganda-s-first-lady-5410030
A Ugandan journalist, Arnold Anthony Mukose, faced court on April 1, 2026, accused of publishing false information about First Lady Janet Museveni. The 41-year-old resident of Makindye Division in Kampala works with DigiTalk Media.
Prosecutors charged him under Regulation 110(E) of the Uganda Communications Commission Licensing Regulations Act 2019 for broadcasting fake news on the Alternative DigiTalk Channel between January 26 and March 29, 2026. They claim he and others falsely stated that Janet Kataha Museveni was dead.
In a second count, under Section 82 of the Uganda Communications Act, he allegedly sent a false distress signal about her death. Mukose pleaded not guilty and was remanded until April 14, 2026.
Eyewitnesses reported his abduction by plain-clothed men in a grey Toyota Noah outside Metro FM 90.8 on March 29, after a radio discussion on the Computer Misuse Act. His lawyer, Kato Tumusiime, said police later searched his Lukuli-Nanganda home, seizing a laptop and phones, before detaining him at Old Kampala Station.
The Uganda Journalists Association condemned the incident as an attack on press freedom. Mukose co-founded Alternative Digitalk Media and petitioned against the Computer Misuse Amendment Act in 2022.
This case echoes past rulings, like the Supreme Court’s 2004 decision striking down Penal Code Section 50 for criminalizing false news, citing its vagueness and threat to free expression.
Source: Daily Monitor