I hear Andrew mwendwa has been picked up or arrested. Any details?
ekissodde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
ekissodde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
-Monitor's Kfm radio closed
CLOSED: The headquarters of K-FM radio station which was closed by
the Uganda Broadcasting Council yesterday. Inset is Andrew Mwenda
By Emmy Allio
and Steven Candia
THE Broadcasting Council (BC) yesterday indefinitely closed
Kampala's K-FM radio station, a subsidiary of the Monitor
Publications, saying it breached sections of the electronic media
law.
At 4:18pm, K-FM, formerly Monitor FM, was closed. The last item to
be aired was a song, Ndiku Digi by Ngoni.
The radio was taken off air as the programme, The Edge, was running.
Before the song, Conrad Nkutu, the Managing Director of The Monitor
Publications, read on air the letter from BC secretary Okullu-Mura.
The letter, titled `Suspension of broadcasting license',
said, "Following receipt of numerous complaints a nd listening to the
recording of your programme, Andrew Mwenda live of August 10, 2005
aired between 7:00pm and 8:00pm, the Broadcasting Council has
discovered that the programme offends the minimum broadcasting
standards enshrined in the first Schedule of the Electronic Media
Cap 104/2000.
"The Broadcasting Council has decided to accordingly and with
immediate effect suspend your broadcasting licence in order to carry
out further investigations into the matter."
The letter, served by two BC officials, was copied to the minister
of state for information and the Inspector General of Police,
Katumba Wamala.
"As a law-abiding company, we have chosen to comply and we shall
proceed to take KFM off air as we pursue the matter with government
authori
ties," Nkutu said after reading the letter and then apologised to
advertisers.
He said the closure was unexplained and lacked legal authority. "We
shall d o everything possible to return to air," he said, adding that
he was surprised by the closure because Mwenda was yesterday due to
host the state minister for information, Dr. Nsaba Buturo.
Earlier on, Buturo told The New Vision that the BC had visited K-fm
station to collect the recorded programme where on Wednesday Mwenda
hosted presidential assistant on political affairs Moses Byaruhanga
and Aswa MP Reagan Okumu.
The topic that night was, "Can government justify today's public
holiday?"
Wednesday was a public holiday in honour of seven Ugandans who died
alongside Sudanese First Vice-President Dr. John Garang in a
helicopter crash on July 30.
During the national prayers at Kololo Airstrip, President Yoweri
Museveni referred to Mwenda as a small boy and blasted him for
reportedly publishing stories prejudicial to regional security and
ordered him to stop henceforth lest he clamps down on The Monitor
newspaper.
The BC action triggered a mixed reaction from the staff at the
Monitor headquarters in Namuwongo, a Kampala city suburb. While some
looked pensive, contemplating their next move, many just laughed off
the move, saying it was expected. Others mingled with journalists
from other media houses who had gone there to pick the news.
While all this was going on, an apparently disturbed Mwenda was
swaying in a black leather swivel chair on the fourth floor that
houses Nkutu's office. Sources said he was under strict orders not
to talk to the press.
Sources said the Government was angered by Mwenda's statements that
were interpreted as demeaning the person of the President and the
presidency.
During the prayers at Kololo on Wednesday, Museveni threatened to
close newspapers for meddling in security issues.
On the talk-show, Mwenda said, "We shall be playing the voice of Mr.
Yoweri Museve ni in his attack on me and I am going to launch a
counter-attack on him." He then played a sound bite from Museveni's
speech:
"I am the elected leader of Uganda, I therefore have the ultimate
mandate to run its affairs. Now, I will not tolerate a newspaper
which is like a vulture. When people are crying, the vultures are
happy. Any newspaper which plays about with regional security, I
will not tolerate.
"I have been seeing this young boy, Mwenda, writing about Rwanda,
writing about Sudan, writing about the UPDF, he must stop. And this
other paper called The Observer, (writing) what has been said in the
army. ... this is not how a country is run. Red Pepper also, I
thought those were young boys busy with naked girls, now if they
have gone into regional security, they must stop. These newspapers
must stop or we shall stop them from writing. If they want to
continue doing business in Uganda, they must stop interferin g in
security matters."
Mwenda then shot back, "First of all, no one is going to stop, at
least me, I am not going to stop. If he closes the newspaper and I
am out of the job, I will seek his job. I will get him out of
Nakasero (State House), take him to Rwakitura (Museveni's country
home)...If the man wants me to vie for his job, let him come and
close the Monitor," Mwenda said as he chuckled away.
Byaruhanga tried to interrupt him, "Fine, you continue doing what
you are doing and wait and see." But Mwenda retorted, "Does your
president know that he has no power to close a newspaper for even
one day? Does he know that he has no legal power? I think Museveni's
problem is, he is seated in State House where all of you in the
movement, he says jump and you ask `how high?', shout and you
ask `how loud?'"
In a spirited defence, which turned out to be a shouting contest,
Byaruhanga said the President would not close the papers personally
but had asked the Attorney General to look into the matter.
Moments later, Mwenda moved onto the demise of Garang. Pinned by
Byaruhanga that some of his articles posed a security threat, Mwenda
replied:
"Are you saying it is The Monitor which caused the death of Garang?
Or it's your own mismanagement. Garang's security was put in danger
by your own government. Putting him, first of all, on a junk
helicopter. Second, at night, third, passing through Imatong hills,
and you know that Kony has stinger missiles, surface-to-air
missiles, five, when there was bad weather.
"But are you aware that Garang died on the Imatong hills where you
have always complained Kony is? Are you aware that your government
killed Garang through incompetence? You caused the death of the man
out of incompetence," Mwenda charged, prompting Byaruhanga to
interject, "I would rather you withdraw that."
"I can n ever withdraw that. If the Police call me, I will say the
government of Uganda, out of incompetence, led or caused the death
of John Garang. They put him on the plane when it was already late.
The President said that plane has the capacity to detect bad weather
100km away. Why couldn't they detect the bad weather...?" Mwenda
asked.
Published on: Friday, 12th August, 2005
Email this article to a friend.
-- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Ekissodde Ekissodde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
>
> Monitor's KFM (93.3 FM) shut down By Dick Nvule Thursday,
11 August 2005
> Officials from the Broadcasting Council have shut down Monitor's
KFM (93.3 FM).
>
>
> A Letter from the Broadcasting Council signed by the Secretary
Okullu Mura says they moved in after numerous complaints to the
program, Andrew Mwenda Live, aired on Wednesday.
>
>
>
> The Broadcasting Council says the program that was aired between
7:00PM and 8:PM offended the minimum broadcasting standards
enshrined in the Electronic Media Act.
>
>
>
> The crack down on the media comes barley a day after the President
Yoweri Museveni threatened to close media organizations that
threaten regional security.
>
>
>
> Conrad Nkutu the Managing Director of Monitor Publications and KFM
says the closure of the Radio station is illegal.
>
>
>
> Andrew Mwenda the Person who presented the Program said to have
breached the law says the Government's reaction shows the government
is turning totalitarian.
>
>
> Meanwhile Workers MP Martin Wandera says President Museveni should
not panic. He says that if he thinks he was offended he should seek
legal redress. Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 August 2005 )
>
>
>
> RIGHTBOX
>
>
> WeatherWeather Data for Kampala
> Copyright 2004 Radio Simba ::::: POWERED BY ONE2NET
[www.one2net.co.ug]
> WebMASTER: L00K
> By Dick Nvule Thursday, 11 August 2005
> Officials from the Broadcasting Council have shut down Monitor's
KFM (93.3 FM).
>
>
> A Letter from the Broadcasting Council signed by the Secretary
Okullu Mura says they moved in after numerous complaints to the
program, Andrew Mwenda Live, aired on Wednesday.
>
>
>
> The Broadcasting Council says the program that was aired between
7:00PM and 8:PM offended the minimum broadcasting standards
enshrined in the Electronic Media Act.
>
>
>
> The crack down on the media comes barley a day after the President
Yowe ri Museveni threatened to close media organizations that
threaten regional security.
>
>
>
> Conrad Nkutu the Managing Director of Monitor Publications and KFM
says the closure of the Radio station is illegal.
>
>
>
> Andrew Mwenda the Person who presented the Program said to have
breached the law says the Government's reaction shows the government
is turning totalitarian.
>
>
> Meanwhile Workers MP Martin Wandera says President Museveni should
not panic. He says that if he thinks he was offended he should seek
legal redress. Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 August 2005 )
>
>
>
> RIGHTBOX
>
>
> WeatherWeather Data for Kampala
> Copyright 2004 Radio Simba ::::: POWERED BY ONE2NET
[www.one2net.co.ug]
> WebMASTER: L00K
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
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