Police Arrests 2 BBC Journalists, Wife to NBS TV’s Solomon Sserwanja

Police on Wednesday night reportedly arrested wife to NBS journalist, Solomon Sserwanja, Vivian Sserwanja, over reasons yet to be known.

According to Robert Ssempala, the coordinator of Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ), Police opted to arrest Vivian, after failing to find Solomon home.

“Last night security operatives surrounded the home of Solomon Sserwanja, a journalist with NBS TV, however he was not in the house and has since arrested his wife Vivian Nakaliika Sserwanja,” said Ssempala in a statement.

He says three other journalists working with BBC were also arrested from different locations and that together with Vivian, they are being detained at Central Police Station in Kampala.

The three journalists are Godfrey Badebye, Rashid Kisame, Muhammad Kassim all from the BBC and their driver Shafiq Kisame.

When contacted, the Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, SP Patrick Onyango, said the Police Spokesperson, CP Fred Enanga will in a moment issue a statement over the same.

In December last year, President Yoweri Museveni described NBS Television where Sserwanja is an employee, as a bad television, which is not loyal to Uganda.

He was responding to a question from another NBS TV reporter, Joseph Sabiti, before asking them to stop misrepresenting the country.

“No, no. I know whom it is loyal to. And they must change because that game also is finished. The game of thinking that we (Ugandans) shall work hard and you parasites will go on misrepresenting our work,” the President told Sabiti.

“You don’t have that right. You have the right to report the truth, Okay? Better watch out,” cautioned the President.

It is not yet clear as to whether the latest developments are related to the President’s sentiments.

This is a developing story.