CPJ concerned over media restrictions ahead of Uganda’s elections
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February 16, 2016 (KAMPALA) – The Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) has expressed concerns of tactics used by the Ugandan government
to stifle media freedom, citing arbitrary closure of stations which
host the country’s opposition political figures, threats to
journalists seen as being critical of the ruling party, and physical
assaults.
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Uganda leader Yoweri Museveni Kaguta (New Vision photo)
Authorities, campaigners told CPJ, have deployed a broad arsenal of
tools, some blunt and others more subtle, to create a media landscape
going into elections, which seems to favour President Yoweri
Museveni’s party.
"They don’t always have to jail you or close you down," Haruna
Kanaabi, the executive secretary of the Independent Media Council,
told CPJ.
"Instead, a few well-placed calls to senior editors at state-owned
media houses and intense pressure on the proprietors of privately
owned media have served to yield rampant self-censorship and created
an environment of fear and uncertainty in newsrooms in addition as
well to the more coercive measures," he added.
Uganda, CPJ said, has one of the more vibrant media environments in
the region, with around 10 daily and weekly newspapers and dozens of
radio stations.
But they operate in a setting where dissent is tolerated only up to a
point, and attempts to highlight corruption among the authorities or
present news that casts the government in negative light attracts
swift sanction, it added.
According to the media campaign group, on February 4, two campaigners,
Sam Ozinda and Charles Adubango, were arrested at their homes a few
days after holding a mini exhibition of cartoons in Nebbi district to
highlight what they said was the loss of money donated by the Uganda
Wildlife Authority for a fencing project for several schools in the
area. They were accused of defamation and spreading false information
against a powerful government official hailing from the region, but
were released on bond.
On February 6, CPJ further said in its report, two British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalists were arrested at the Abim
hospital in northern part of Uganda for filming its facilities
"without authorisation."
The medical facility, located in a remote part of the country, gained
national attention following an earlier visit by opposition leader
Kizza Besigye sought to highlight what he described as its deplorable
conditions.
Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director of the Uganda Communications
Commission, told CPJ in an interview that said the authorities were
acting not to shield the incumbent from criticism, but to preserve the
peace.
"We have laws which we must implement. We don’t want to go through a
situation like Rwanda where hundreds of thousands died all in the name
of freedom of expression,” he said.
The official, while speaking to CPJ, dismissed allegations of
crackdowns on media outlets seen as critical of government and those
that host opposition.
"That’s not true. In any case, how do you know my affiliation? I might
be a supporter of the opposition. I’m just implementing the law as it
stands,” he stressed.
A 2015 Freedom House report showed Uganda’s press freedom environment
improved slightly in 2014 as journalists registered some progress in
expanding access to information by successfully challenging a
magistrate’s order for closed court proceedings.
It however, said journalists in Uganda continued to face intimidation
and harassment from state and non-state actors, which at times
engendered self-censorship.
(ST)
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