Brutality. An NTV video grab shows soldiers beating up Reuters
photojournalist James Akena as he covered the protests over the
detention of several Opposition MPs in Kampala on Monday.
As journalists all
over the world today climax activities to mark this year’s World Press
Freedom Day in Addis Abba, Ethiopia, it is a wakeup call for their
Ugandan counterparts to always fight for the rights of other people and
theirs too. We have seen journalists in Uganda fight for the rights of
every one else except their very own.
Two recent
examples can ably demonstrate this fact: Maj Gen Matayo Kyaligonza and
his two bodyguards, allegedly assaulted traffic officer Esther Namaganda
after she stopped their convoy from making a U-turn in a wrong place in
Seeta, Mukono District. The assault of the lady officer made headlines
in major media platforms. Yet a journalist who captured that incident,
Mr Peter Otai of UBC, got no minimal or no coverage at all.
In
contrast, last week, the acting registrar of the planning department of
the Judiciary, Mr Fred Waninda, allegedly slapped two journalists who
were filming him after he appeared in court in a land matter in which he
is involved. The gadgets of Eric Yiga and Hannington Kisakye both
journalists attached to Salt Media and Smart 24 respectively were broken
in the process.
Following this unfortunate incident,
only a few media houses picked up this story that literally goes to the
root of threatening their media freedom. Even when the executive members
of the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) took a petition to the
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) seeking their orders to fire the
registrar over his alleged misconduct, only a few journalists
accompanied the victims for this noble cause.
In the
same way, as we celebrate this year’s World Press Freedom Day, there are
many other abuses meted out against journalists as they search for
news. A new global press freedom index released a few days ago, showed
that Uganda is among the 22 African countries with bad press freedom
records.
The report says acts of intimidation and
violence against reporters are an almost daily occurrence in Uganda and
pinpoints points the security services as the leading press freedom
violators. Going forward, the police who have the number one violator of
the journalists’ rights, should understand that journalists compliment
their operations, but are not their enemies.
Lately, there is a new trend of Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) storming radio stations that are hosting Opposition politicians.
Lately, there is a new trend of Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) storming radio stations that are hosting Opposition politicians.
We urge the
Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to desist from threatening to
close down some media houses on allegations of not adhering to the
minimum broadcasting standards. Three NBS TV staff being the latest
victims of such threats. These acts are unacceptable and should stop.
Our commitment to you
We pledge:
• To be accurate and fair in all we do.
• To be respectful to all in our pursuit of the truth.
• To decline any compensation beyond that provided by Monitor Publications Ltd. for what we do in our news gathering and decision-making.
Further, we ask that we be informed whenever you feel that we have fallen short in our attempt to keep these commitments.
• To be accurate and fair in all we do.
• To be respectful to all in our pursuit of the truth.
• To decline any compensation beyond that provided by Monitor Publications Ltd. for what we do in our news gathering and decision-making.
Further, we ask that we be informed whenever you feel that we have fallen short in our attempt to keep these commitments.
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
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