Uganda Press Freedom Forum

2 October 2017,
Kampala

RE: Ugandan journalists protest gagging by the State

Over the last several weeks, as agitation over the presidential age limits has seized
public debate, Ugandan journalists and media houses have been unfortunate
victims of overzealous security personnel keen to stifle particularly the voices of
Ugandan citizens opposed to the removal of the age limits.

Some journalists were arrested while they diligently went about their work, and
three of them spent a night in a police cell in Lira, while others had their
equipment confiscated and only returned to them in the evening. Others were
caught up in scuffles with security operatives who wanted to confiscate their
equipment, particularly cameras. We insist that practising journalism in Uganda is
not a crime.

The cocktail of security agencies involved in suffocating peoples inalienable rights

to hold opinions of their choice and to freely express and disseminate them has,
regrettably, been helped by no less an institution than the Uganda
Communications Commission (UCC), which promises in its tagline to provide
Communication For All.

On September 26, 2017, UCC ordered broadcasters, especially television stations,

to immediately stop and refrain from broadcasting live feeds of ongoing debates
in Parliament over the age limits that wound up in fistfights. The Commission
claimed such broadcasts were in contravention of Section 31 of the Uganda
Communications Act, 2013.

Reference to the law not only reveals a gross misreading of it, especially in relation
to live broadcasts. More importantly, it demonstrates an erroneous pattern UCC
has absorbed itself in. It is the accuser, prosecutor, judge and executioner of media
work the Commission and its appointing authority disapprove of not because it
contravenes any law but has been adjudged as unpalatable to those who wield state
power.
In the days after issuing its order, UCC in cahoots with security persons have
followed up radio and television stations and their journalists with calls,
threatening and warning them against hosting individuals, particularly Members of
Parliament, who hold opposing views to the government.

As a group of 230 practising journalists under the collective Uganda Press

Freedom Network, we are dismayed, to say the least, by the conduct of the
Commission. We roundly condemn and reject its futile attempts to supress press
freedom that it has now made a habit of.

The Commission, more than anybody else, should be at the forefront of protecting
and promoting the rights of journalists and media houses in Uganda to operate
freely. This is important if for nothing else to fulfil its promise of providing
communication for all, which inevitably includes the views they might disagree
with for political or other reasons.

The Commissions core mandate to regulate minimum broadcasting

standards DOES NOT include a misreading and misapplication of the law, or
stretching its obligations to determine which persons media houses host or what
reports they carry. To continue to do so not only undermine its existence, it
damages Ugandas reputation in the world and undercuts its attractiveness as an
investment destination. No business entity worth its name is keen to invest in an
environment where misreading and misapplication of the law is the norm, as the
Commission continually demonstrates.

The Commission ought to know by now that a free press is the cornerstone of a
prosperous democracy, which Uganda aspires to and the ruling NRM government
has always touted among its signature achievements in its three decades in power
to date. A thriving democracy, needless to say, is critical to the nations social,
economic and political prosperity.

We therefore call upon the Commission to immediately review its conduct and
desist from any actions that undercut the media sector that it is set up to promote.
To do otherwise is self-defeating at all levels.
We also want to challenge editors, news executives and indeed media owners who
interface directly with these most unfortunate demands and actions by UCC and its
partners to take a firmer stand in defence of a free press. Their failure to push back
strongly against these erroneous directives has a direct effect on our credibility
before the public we elect ourselves to inform and educate. Defend your reporters
before they are too weak to defend you!

What is Uganda Press Freedom Forum?

Uganda Press Freedom Forum is a loose grouping of journalists from across all
media houses who strive to enhance freedom of the press. The forum was founded
in 2016 and currently has 230 journalists from around the country, subscribed.

Gabriel Buule
gbuule@gmail.com

Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi

eriasa.mukiibi79@gmail.com

Isaac Imaka
imackisa@gmail.com

Haggai Matsiko
hmatsiko@gmail.com

Carol Beyanga
cbeyanga@ug.nationmedia.com

Benedicta Asiimwe
basiimwe@ug.nationmedia.com