*For superb analysis, as usual, Kalyegira *
*is light years ahead, unlike the empty *
*and **tired **Muniini, **Onyango-Obbo, *
*Anne Mugisha, etc...*
**
*He is proof that not everybody in our *
*country is a bafoon.*
**
*Mitayo Potosi *
*==============================*
OPINIONS & COMMENTARIES *THE RIDDLE* | Timothy Kalyegira ...
How the media created the illusion of NRM's success
This weekend marks the 22nd anniversary of the rise to state power of the
National Resistance Movement guerrilla force. Rather than write about that
event 22 years ago, I shall take on a rarely discussed outgrowth of the
NRM's liberalisation of the Ugandan economy and its impact on society.
A few years after the NRM came to power, the television and radio airwaves
--- once state-controlled --- were opened up to private investment in 1992
and 1993 respectively.
It was thought that the infusion of the spirit of competition would raise
the standards of journalism in Uganda that had, supposedly, been lacking
during the days of government control.
However, the media once liberalised found itself not competing to establish
higher standards, but fighting for its life.
The reason is that the Ugandan economy, despite all the NRM government's
propaganda, remains too weak after 22 years to sustain more than 10 radio
stations. With more than 20 stations in Kampala alone competing for
advertisements, the company and the advertiser has virtually become the
focus of worship by the media.
Looking back now, perhaps it was a mistake to open up the radio airwaves so
widely to the point where Uganda now has over 100 stations spread across
every region and virtually every major town.
As a general rule, privatisation of the Ugandan economy has led to a decline
in actual standards but disguised by the dramatic rise in the illusion of
prosperity and efficiency.
Large billboards adorn the streets of Kampala and other major towns.
But behind this glitter of billboards, full-colour adverts in the newspapers
and endless radio promotions lies the fact that Ugandans are taken for
granted and nobody in the media dare talk about it.
The largest advertisers in Uganda are the major companies and
non-governmental organisations.
There has arisen a conspiracy of silence over the NRM government's claims to
success and a parallel silence over the illusions created by the corporate
and NGO worlds.
This takes us to the wider political question: if for the past 22 years of
the NRM the private sector has been rapidly expanding, making profits, and
the Ugandan economy registering growth rates consistently above 5 percent
per year, how come in the same 22 years Uganda remains heavily dependent on
"donors" and western and domestic NGOs to fund the national budget and to
provide basic social services? Where do all the taxes that companies and
citizens pay go?
If for 22 years the Museveni government has been the roaring success that
many people and governments overseas believe, one of the results would have
been the gradual disappearance of NGOs and the dependence on western donor
nations to keep Uganda afloat.
How come under the Idi Amin years, despite the economic boycott and supposed
social collapse, there were almost no NGOs in Uganda?
Now that we broadly know the NRM government's propensity for rigging
elections, how can we be sure that the figures of declining HIV infection or
high economic growth since 1986 have not been as falsified as general
election results?
Is it not strange? Uganda's economy is booming; HIV infection rates going
down, making Uganda Africa's "success story", education expanding. But the
more the economy booms, the more dependent on donors we become; the more
educational institutions grow and therefore the better educated the
population becomes, the more grammatical and factual errors we see in our
newspapers?
The major companies seem to have realised the desperate situation of the
media and taken full advantage of it. Where in years previous, a company
advertised largely in order to increase its sales, public presence or to
launch a new product or service, nowadays advertising has become a form of
insurance against criticism and a way of buying the silence of the media.
This is the fool's paradise we have lived in for the past 15 years or so.
Yes, certain newspapers and radio stations have done a good job in exposing
the abuse of power by the government's political leaders and the security
forces.
But then, how come we never hear or read about the abuse of power by
managing directors or other chief executives of some of Uganda's leading
business firms or NGOs?
Companies can then go on to declare false profit earnings, under declare or
evade taxes, exploit their employees, manufacture goods of questionable
quality, but none of that ever gets into the media.
Just as how the Museveni regime became hostage to the western world for
diplomatic recognition for continued survival, the media in Uganda during
the 22 years of the NRM has gradually become dependent on and therefore
hostage to the NGOs and business firms.
The appearance of a vibrant corporate world in Uganda and that of a free and
competing news and entertainment media have in turn helped create this false
image of Uganda as a prosperous and free society.
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