Exclusive
BBC Blocks Ugandan Activist and deletes his long post critiquing Museveni’s 40-Year Dictatorship
On July 7th, 2025, BBC News published a headline that read:
“Yoweri Museveni has been endorsed by the ruling party as its candidate in the 2026 election.”
Accompanied by a smiling image of Uganda’s 80-year-old ruler, the caption framed this moment as just another routine political development. But to millions of Ugandans especially the youth, this was not news. It was a slap in the face. It was a continuation of a 40-year nightmare disguised as democracy.
I commented under that post calmly but firmly exposing Museveni’s long record of repression, corruption, and illegitimacy. Within hours, my comment had been deleted. By the next morning, BBC News had blocked my account from interacting with their page. I had to access their page using a different account with my comment deleted.
No warning. No explanation. No appeal.
A British publicly-funded media house silenced a Ugandan citizen for exposing decades of abuse, in the comments section of their own post. Whom do they serve, what are they protecting??
What Did I Say That Deserved to Be Erased?
Here’s the truth that BBC did not want to remain under their post,
For nearly four decades, Yoweri Museveni has not ruled Uganda through democratic consent but through violence, constitutional manipulation, and military force. Since 1986, he has held onto power through rigged elections, brutal crackdowns, and legislative coups. He was not elected by the people in 1986, nor in 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, or 2021.
In 2005, he bribed MPs to remove term limits a safeguard meant to prevent exactly this kind of life presidency. Then in 2017, when age threatened to disqualify him, he sent soldiers into Parliament to beat up lawmakers and remove the presidential age limit by force. These weren’t democratic reforms. They were constitutional rapes carried out at gunpoint.
Museveni didn’t come to power through the ballot. He came with bullets preaching against long-serving leaders only to become Africa’s longest-serving dictator.
Uganda Under Siege By Its Own Government
Uganda is not a democracy. It is a state under internal occupation. The police have become hunters. The army, a personal militia. Parliament, a circus of cowardice. Activists vanish into “torture houses.” Protesters are gunned down in the streets. In November 2020, more than 100 Ugandans were killed in cold blood simply for demanding the release of opposition leader Bobi Wine.
Today, youth unemployment is over 70%, hospitals are crumbling, and education is a luxury. Meanwhile, billions are siphoned through fake contracts, inflated military budgets, and ghost projects. Uganda’s national debt now exceeds 52% of GDP but the money doesn’t build; it maintains dictatorship.
Then the West’s Dirty Hands in Uganda’s Oppression
Museveni survives not on popular support, but on Western protection. Britain, the EU, and the United States continue to arm, finance, and legitimize his regime. To them, Museveni is a “stabilizer” in the Great Lakes region a useful gatekeeper in exchange for oil, gold, and mineral access. Their commitment to democracy ends at their borders.
Original Deleted comment
The same BBC that blocked me would never silence a Ukrainian, Palestinian, or Russian dissident for criticizing a regime. But they erased my voice a Black African fighting for justice in my own country. That is not journalism. That is complicity.
Why Was I Silenced for Speaking the Truth?
If my words were wrong, they could have been debated.
If my tone was aggressive, it could have been challenged.
But I was blocked and erased. That tells you everything.
Museveni fears the youth. He fears the truth. But now, so do his international enablers because the narrative is slipping.
Uganda’s young people are awake, informed, and angry. We are not afraid. Museveni is not a president he is a parasite, a relic clinging to power, feeding off a nation he has robbed for 40 years. He has overstayed, over-bled, and overruled Uganda. And we are ready to take it back.
To the BBC and the West You Can’t Silence Us All
If BBC wants to side with power instead of people, history will judge them. If they believe blocking one activist will stop the truth, they are mistaken. My voice echoes millions of others who are rising to say:
Enough is enough.
Uganda does not belong to Museveni.
It belongs to its people.
And we are coming for our future.
JB Muwonge
Social Activist | Human Rights Defender
