By Isaac Imaka
The Speaker of the East African Legislative
Assembly, Ms Margaret Zziwa has stressed the importance of freedom of
the press, saying it is the cornerstone of democracy and development in
any country.
Responding to a question on EALA’s stand on the
closure of media houses in Uganda, Ms Zziwa said
freedom of the press should be guaranteed in any environment without any hindrance.
freedom of the press should be guaranteed in any environment without any hindrance.
“As EALA, we respect the freedom of the press and
it should be guaranteed,” she said. “It is through the press that we can
inform the public about what we are doing but this freedom also comes
with responsibility from the journalists and a high level of accuracy.”
Ms Zziwa is in Uganda for the sixth meeting of the
first session of the third East African Legislative Assembly scheduled
to take place at the Parliament of Uganda from May 26 to June 6.
On Monday last week, gun-wielding police officers
surrounded the offices of Monitor Publications Limited, stopping the
operations of the newspaper over a letter that was published in the
Daily Monitor about a supposed “Muhoozi Project”.
Subsequently, KFM and Dembe FM, both Monitor sister media houses, and a tabloid, the Red Pepper was also closed.
The letter, which was written by the Coordinator
of Intelligence Services Gen. David Sejusa commonly known as Tinyefuza,
claims the there is a plot to assassinate officials who are opposed to
President Museveni’s plan to have his son, Brig Muhoozi Keinerugaba
succeed him.
Ms Zziwa’s condemnation of the closure of the two
media houses adds to criticism from United Nations and the European
Union, who said the sealing off of the media premises and the
restriction of movement of their personnel to carry out their
professional activities is a flagrant violation of Uganda’s obligations
under international human rights laws.
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