Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu of the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court at Makindye has sentenced a former employee of NTV Uganda Dean Saava Lubowa after he pleaded guilty to multiple communications-related offences.
Saava, proprietor of the online platform TV10 – Gano Mazima, was arrested and charged in October 2025 with unlawful broadcasting. Prosecution told court that he had installed and operated a broadcasting facility without a licence issued by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
Saava was also accused of airing content in breach of the Minimum Broadcasting Standards. The Commission said it had received a series of complaints alleging defamation, as well as accusations that he used his platform to blackmail and intimidate public officials.
Despite a formal directive issued by the Commission requiring him to cease operations and regularise his status, Saava continued to broadcast in open defiance of the law, prompting enforcement action by the regulator.
Saava pleaded guilty to all the communications-related offences committed in contravention of the Uganda Communications Act and other applicable laws and regulations.
He admitted to installing and operating online TV broadcasting apparatus without a licence issued by the Uganda Communications Commission and to disobeying lawful orders of the Commission.
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Kamasanyu sentenced him as follows: on Count One, to a fine of Shs 3 million or one year’s imprisonment; on Count Two, to a fine of Shs 500,000 or one year’s imprisonment; and on Count Three, to a fine of Shs 500,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both.
Saava also forfeited 45 pieces of equipment that had been seized from the offices and studio of TV10 – Gano Mazima in Lungujja, Kyobe Zone, Rubaga, Kampala. The court ordered that the equipment be disposed of by the Uganda Communications Commission in accordance with the law.
