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Despite submitting their credentials beforehand, the journalists were stopped by security officers at the entrance
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By J. Hasto
MBARARA: Journalists from two media houses were today, March 24, 2025, denied access to cover a National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) event held at Hotel Triangle in Mbarara City. The two journalists, from Daily Monitor and NBS, were set to cover the 6th Annual Higher Education Conference, where the guest of honor, Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataaha Museveni, was expected to engage educationists in the region on the use of artificial intelligence in higher education.
Prior to the event, journalists had been invited by the NCHE Public Relations Officer to provide coverage. However, upon arrival, security personnel turned them away, stating that their names were not on the approved list.
Despite submitting their credentials beforehand, the journalists were stopped by security officers at the entrance. Attempts to explain their invitation and seek clarification were futile, as they were repeatedly told to inform their media houses that they had been denied access.
When a Daily Monitor journalist inquired about the reason for being barred, she was simply told to leave.
"We know you are from Daily Monitor/NTV, but we have refused you entry. Tell your bosses that we don’t want you to cover this event. Go back," one security officer said mockingly, laughing at the journalist.
The Daily Monitor reporter then reached out to the NCHE Public Relations Officer, hoping he could intervene. However, he informed her that the situation was beyond his control and that the order had come from higher authorities. Meanwhile, the NBS reporter, who had arrived earlier, had also been denied entry in a similar manner.
"I was stopped immediately when the security men saw me. They told me, 'We don’t want you here,' and I thought they were joking," the NBS journalist recounted. He added that he had waited for a while, hoping that discussions with the Public Relations Officer would allow him entry, but his pleas were ignored.
"I decided to leave because other journalists from different media houses were allowed in, and I was the only one left out. So, I left," he explained.
When Torch Media Africa reached out to the PRO NCHE, She said, it was orders from above and could not add more.
This is not the first time journalists from these media houses have been denied access to government events. Earlier this month, reporters from Daily Monitor and NBS were also barred from covering President Museveni’s tour on the Parish Development Model (PDM) in the Bunyoro Sub-region.
