Yoweri Museveni has been in power since 1986. (Getty Images)
By Patience Atuhaire
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has sued a leading independent newspaper, the Daily Monitor, for defamation after accusing it of publishing a "malicious" allegation against him about Covid-19 vaccines.
The paper quoted a report in the US-based Wall Street Journal, alleging that Mr Museveni and his inner circle had secretly been inoculated before the rest of the population.
The president denied the report, published on 23 February, and in two separate national addresses over the last couple of weeks, he has demanded a front-page apology from the Daily Monitor. It issued a "clarification" earlier this week.
The president's petition, filed in the High Court, described the story as intentionally reckless and malicious, and said it had painted him as a dishonest person.
In a televised address on Sunday, Mr Museveni said he was still considering which of the globally approved vaccines to take.
He added that he wanted people who are most at risk, like health workers, to be vaccinated first.
Uganda has so far received more than 860,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. More than 4,000 people, most of them frontline workers, have already been vaccinated.
This article was published by BBC News.
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