Ugandan journalist missing, forced into van after radio show

Kampala, March 30, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ugandan authorities to immediately disclose whether they have detained journalist and activist Mukose Arnold Anthony and to ensure his safe return, following his forcible disappearance in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on Sunday.

“The brazen seizure of Mukose Arnold Anthony in broad daylight, outside a radio station, is an appalling abuse of human rights and media freedom,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. “Ugandan authorities must urgently reveal the journalist’s whereabouts and ensure that journalists can work without fear of being arrested or disappearing.”

At about 1 p.m. on March 22, men in plainclothes pushed Mukose, program director with the online outlet Alternative Digitalk, into a Toyota Noah minivan waiting outside the main gate of Metro FM 90.8, according to media reports. Eyewitnesses told those outlets that the men identified themselves to Mukose as security officers. Ugandans have nicknamed the vehicles “drones” because of the speed with which they drive off with those they have picked up.

The Independent magazine cited Mukose’s lawyer Kato Tumusiime as saying that operatives from the multi-agency Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force took his client to his house, which they searched, and seized electronic devices.

A police search certificate, shared online by Eron Kizza, another lawyer for Alternative Digitalk, showed that the police took Mukose’s ID card, passport, a modem, laptop and two smart watches from his house on March 29, in his presence.

Mukose had just finished a live broadcast where he discussed the Constitutional Court’s March 17 ruling that nullified several sections of the Computer Misuse Act and criminal defamation in the penal code, which have frequently been used by authorities to target journalists and activists.

Uganda’s police and military have long been accused of conducting enforced disappearances. Human Rights Watch has alleged that the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force has been involved in the illegal detention of more than 100 people, with some dying as a result of torture. Others remain unaccounted for.

High profile cases last year included that of a priest, two Kenyan activists, and Eddie Mutwe, bodyguard of opposition leader Bobi Wine. Museveni’s son and military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted on X that he had “captured” Mutwe “like a grasshopper” and was holding him “in my basement.” When Mutwe was produced in court, he appeared to have been tortured, the justice minister said.

In 2022, Alternative Digitalk’s offices were raided and two of its staff were charged under a section of the Computer Misuse Act that was later annulled, leading to the dismissal of the case.

Police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma and Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi did not immediately respond to CPJ’s text messages or phone calls seeking comment.