Parliament-accredited reporters have resorted to boycotting the Parliamentary Defence Committee sitting today after the Minister for Internal Affairs, Major General Kahinda Otafiire, declined to offer both an apology and a statement addressing the brutal treatment inflicted on journalists who were covering the recently concluded Kawempe North By-election.

This occurred while the minister was leading the Ministry of Internal Affairs in a meeting with the Parliamentary Defence Committee.

Parliamentary journalists today resorted to boycotting the Parliamentary Defence Committee sitting, where the Minister for Internal Affairs, Major General Kahinda Otafiire, and his deputy, Lieutenant General David Muhoozi, made an appearance to present their ministerial policy statements for the 2024/25 financial year.

During the meeting, Hon. James Kaberuka, MP for Kinkizi County West, and Hon. Luttamaguzi Ssemakula, MP for Nakaseke South, demanded assurance of the safety of journalists and citizens, as well as an apology to the fourth estate from the police following the torture that was witnessed during the coverage of the Kawempe North by-election.

In response, the Minister for Internal Affairs told the committee that he was not in a position to comment on the issue, pointing to the authority weighed in the President Yoweri Museveni’s statement on the matter.

Speaking to the media, the president of the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association (UPPA), Sam Ibanda Mugabi, restated that the boycott of security agency events is set to continue, until they respectively issue an apology for the damages and injuries caused to journalists during the concluded by-election.

This boycott follows the initial announcement made on 13th March, 2025, by a group of journalists' associations that agreed to boycott all security agency activities following the attacks that erupted while covering the Kawempe North by-election.