The newspaper was established in 1992 as The Monitor and relaunched as the Daily Monitor in June 2005. The paper asserts that its private ownership guarantees the independence of its editors and journalists.

The newspaper headquarters are housed in the same building that houses the other investments owned by Monitor Publications Limited, including Daily Monitor newspaper, Monitor Business Directory, Ennyanda sports newspaper (in Luganda), 90.4 Dembe FM radio station (in Luganda and English),[6] 93.3 KFM radio station, Daily Monitor e-paper, The Monitor E-paper app, and Daily Monitor social media channels.

Monitor Publications Limited and all its subsidiaries listed above are owned by Nation Media Group, a media conglomerate, based in Nairobi, Kenya and whose shares are listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and are cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, and the Rwanda Stock Exchange.