Anxiety Hits Monitor Staff Hard As Md Nsibirwa Faces Exile
The story
On May 3, 2013, Daniel Kalinaki was kicked out of Daily Monitor into exile at Nation Media Group's headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Two weeks later, security operatives sealed off Monitor Publications Limited's headquarters in Namuwongo, declaring the premises a crime scene.
Thirteen years later, history appears—at least to many inside the company—to be echoing itself.
Details
On April 1, 2026, Kalinaki exited Nation Media Group Uganda once again, this time entirely relieved of his duties. Barely three months later, security operatives raided the company's operations and shut down its media platforms.
Inside Monitor, however, the parallel has become impossible to ignore.
For many current and former employees, Kalinaki's greatest strength extended far beyond editing stories and mentoring reporters. He was widely regarded as one of the newsroom's finest strategists, able to steer one of Uganda's most outspoken newspapers through repeated political storms while preserving its editorial identity.
That balancing act often unfolded far from the newsroom floor. Difficult conversations were held behind closed doors. Tempers were cooled. Compromises were struck. Yet the paper largely retained the editorial independence that made it both admired by readers and distrusted by those in power.
Twice Kalinaki has departed. Twice the government has delivered what many inside Monitor regard as one of its most crushing blows. While it is controversial to suggest he could have stopped it, the temptation to draw conclusions is benign.
In 2013, the Uganda Police Force was the public face of the confrontation, with then Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura leading investigations surrounding the so-called Muhoozi Project letter authored by Gen David Sejusa.
How other sources reported it
Watchdog Uganda also reported on the story, highlighting that in the high-stakes arena of corporate media, sentimentality is a luxury that minority shareholders simply cannot afford. the unfolding crisis at nation media group (nmg) uganda—marked by the sudden shutdown of ntv uganda and the daily monitor, alongside repor…
Why it matters
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