Why journalists walked out on heavily guarded UPDF presser

Journalists on Monday pinned the security officers on freedom of the press.
“Where is the protection that the UPDF Tahere Sita launched 40 years ago?” they asked at Uganda Media Centre.
“We don’t pride ourselves in a situation where the lives of Ugandans are lost,” Chief Political Commissar UPDF, Henry Matsiko, replied.
MatsikoHe said it takes two to tangle.
“If we all care to stick to professionalism, these unnecessary things will be minimized.”
“You can’t have a State that is a threat to its citizens, and our position is clear, ” he added.
According to Matsiko, the State is there to mitigate internal and external threats.
It gets hard when these are being implemented, he noted.
“If you mingle with a very volatile situation, it may be difficult to isolate the actors who are on the wrong side.”
They had even brought a police van to arrest journalists“Once you are a journalist, prove to us that you are exercising journalism. Professionalism will help all of us.”
The journalists asked him to apologise for the brutality meted out at their colleagues who have become collateral damage but to no avail.
They then walked out in solidarity.
The army had heavily deployed around Media Centre during the press conference.
UPDF spokesperson Brig. Flavia Byekwaso explained the heavy deployment around the Media Centre saying that they got information that journalists wanted to beat them and so they had to get ‘backup’ for protection.