Judge Nakiganda Bans Bloggers, Vloggers from Recording in Courtroom

What the report says

The High Court in Jinja has set strict rules for a series of election petition hearings, limiting each case to four days in an effort to speed up the handling of post-election disputes. The direction was given by High Court Judge Lady Justice Aidah Nakiganda during a pre-trial meeting with lawyers for the parties involved, and the court also said it would not accept any further affidavits because the filing deadline had passed.

According to Nile Post, the judge ordered that the petitions will be heard one after another and fixed dates for the cases. Her initial media guidance barred all recording in the courtroom, including by journalists, bloggers and vloggers. That prompted an objection from Hakim Kanyere of the Human Rights Network for Journalists, who said the restriction on journalists could clash with constitutional media protections.

After the objection, Justice Nakiganda relaxed the rule for journalists, but kept the ban on bloggers and vloggers recording proceedings. She said the court had to balance public access with fair-hearing concerns, including the need to protect witnesses, judicial officers and the integrity of evidence. The digest reflects a broader pattern in election petition hearings across Uganda, where courts often impose security and procedural controls when handling politically sensitive disputes.