By Mulengera Reporters
A team of enforcement officers from Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) on Friday seized Nsimbi Radio 89.4 FM in Bukoba Cell, Bukomansimbi Town Council, Bukomansimbi district, shutting it down over licensing violations.
The station is owned by Bukomansimbi North MP-Elect Salim Kisekka of NRM, who recently polled 9,037 votes) and defeated NUP’s Christine Ndiwalana (7,090) in the hotly contested 2026 elections. Kisekka had previously aimed for Mawogola County MP in Sembabule district but lost to former Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa.
Led by UCC Senior Legal Enforcement Officer Dennis Okalang, the team stormed the radio station, housed in a fancy building behind a guarded gate, interrupting a live program hosted by a female presenter.
Nearby, a man—later identified as Edward Lugalama, the station manager who was at the shop-spotted the officers approaching. He tried to intervene but was powerless. Lugalama admitted the station had no license and all of a sudden cooperated as the UCC team confiscated the equipment.
A UCC vehicle entered the premises, and key equipment (including a transmitter and mixer) was removed. The operation was swift, reportedly because Kisekka is claimed to have connections to relatives of the President, which in the past had made UCC raids difficult.
The crackdown didn’t stop there. The team moved to Best FM Entaranta at Kitwe Cell, Kyarunga Ward, Kigongo division, Ibanda Municipality Ibanda district in Western Uganda. Operating on two frequencies—90.8 FM and 107.1 FM—Best FM was run from a small, rented compound.
The owner Vincent Ssegawa (not the Kadongo Kamu Artist) was not on site. Neighbors said the station had around seven employees who came and went without supervision.
The landlady, Rozeria Kamukama, revealed she hadn’t received rent for 10 months, totaling 600,000 shillings. Former employees had also reported unpaid salaries, and some had left for other stations.
UCC, supported by police, army and technical officers, dismantled the small station in the presence of the village chairperson Gorette Katusime and area police. Confiscated equipment included computers, high-powered microphones, a mixer and a transmitter.
During the raid, the enforcement officers found a letter from Ssegawa dated 10th June 2025, in which he requested a license, claiming his station would educate locals on health, gender issues and amplify civic awareness. A 23rd June 2025 response from UCC then Ag Executive Director Julianne Mweheire instructed him to first check spectrum availability on the UCC website before applying for a broadcasting license. This nationwide sweep highlights UCC’s zero-tolerance policy on unlicensed radio stations, sending a strong warning to would-be broadcasters. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
