President Yoweri Museveni has expressed concerns over a ‘seemingly’ coordinated series of fake news suggesting he had been hospitalized in Germany and later passed on.
The falsehoods were spearheaded by bloggers attached to National Unity Platform (NUP), a powerful opposition party in Uganda led by Hon Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine
Whereas the President had been tight-lipped for sometime, he broke silence at Kololo while presiding over the swearing in ceremony for the last batch of Ministers.
Museveni said such news causes anxiety among the members of the public and also generates confusion.
He said security must invest heavily in cyber intelligence to quickly locate such characters who spread the misinformation.
“Another problem we need to solve, I don’t think it’s a security problem but an idiotic problem. The social media. The social media has apparently been saying that Museveni is dead. The security services must solve that problem immediately ,” Museveni said.
He added: “The security must quickly locate someone who tells such a story because you waste people’s time. They should go for you.”
Museveni said that if the fake news peddler is in Europe then government denounces him or her.
“We say go to hell.” The President said.
The bloggers loyal to NUP and based in Foreign countries for close to one month propagated lies on internet that members of first family including the President and his son Gen. Muhoozi Kainerigaba were bedridden.
They later said the President had succumbed.
Museveni said that while visiting Matuuga on Tuesday, his supporters congregated to confirm if he is alive.