Freedom of the Press in Uganda 2002-2003

A journalist murdered

Jimmy Higenyi , a journalism student at the United Media Consultants and Trainers (UMCAT) school, was fatally shot in the back by police in Kampala on 12 January while covering an opposition demonstration as a course assignment. Overwhelmed by the size of the turnout, the police had opened fire in order to disperse the crowd. Organised by the opposition Ugandan People's Congress (UPC), the march was banned by police under article 269 of the constitution forbidding political activity. It was the first time Higenyi had done field reporting as a journalist. At least three other reporters - Archie Luyimbazi and Andrew Mujema of the television channel WBS and James Akena of the daily New Vision - and several UPC leaders were detained for several hours by police. The police inspector-general, Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala, announced a few days later that a ranking police officer and two other policemen had been arrested in connection with the death of Higenyi. "The police assume full responsibility," he said at a press conference.

Two journalists physically attacked

Matthias Mugisha, a photographer with the pro-government newspaper New Vision , was beaten by the commander of the military police, Maj. Dick Bugingo, and his camera was destroyed while he was covering training exercises in Kampala on 30 January 2002. Bugingo also ordered a bodyguard to hit another New Vision journalist, Grace Matsiko, when she objected to the attack on Mugisha.

Two journalists arrested

Father Giulio Albanese, director of the Italian missionary news agency MISNA , travelled to the northern Kitgum region on 28 August 2002 to interview the LRA rebels about a possible ceasefire with the government. Although the army had approved this meeting, military personnel followed Albanese and the two other priests accompanying him and used their rendez-vous to launch a surprise attack on the rebels. Albanese and his two companions were arrested by the military and taken to Kitgum barracks, where they were accused the next day of supplying medicine to the rebels. They were released later that day. "They treated us like animals," one of Albanese's companions said.

Raid on The Monitor

Police raided The Monitor , the country's only independent daily newspaper, without a warrant on 10 October, searching its offices, seizing equipment and posting units outside that barred access, thereby preventing the newspaper from appearing for a week. The raid was prompted by a report in that day's edition that rebels had brought down an army helicopter in the north. The journalist who wrote the report, Frank Nyakairu, was arrested by soldiers the next day in the northern town of Gulu. Managing editor Charles Onyango Obbo and news editor Wanyama Wangah appeared in court on 16 November on charges of publishing false news prejudicial to national security. They pleaded not guilty and were released on bail of 1.5 million shillings (820 euros). After being brought to Kampala, Nyakairu appeared in court the following day and was released a few hours later on bail of 2.5 million shillings (1,360 euros). Thereafter, the police blockade was lifted, much of the confiscated equipment was returned, and the newspaper was able to reappear on 18 October.

Information minister Basoga Nsadhu urged The Monitor's journalists to respect press ethics and Uganda's laws. A month later, a presidential advisor on media matters called for harsher measures against journalists who encourage terrorism and said he had no reason to apologise to The Monitor.

Uganda Attacks Freedom of the Press

October 11, 2002

The Ugandan government should immediately end its suppression of the Monitor, the main independent daily in Uganda, and allow the paper to publish again, Human Rights Watch said today.

An estimated 50 soldiers, some in uniform and others in civilian dress, occupied the premises of the Monitor in Kampala late on Oct.10 and started searching electronic and written material. They ordered staff to leave and disconnected the telephones. At present, police continue to guard the office and the Monitor has not been published today.

Security forces told Monitor managers that the newspaper was being searched because it had published news that an army helicopter involved in the northern Uganda war had crashed. The authorities denied that the crash had happened.

“Just when independent reporting is most necessary—in war time—the Ugandan government has silenced one of the country’s most respected journals,” said Juliane Kippenberg, researcher in the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “This is a blatant attack on freedom of the press.”

In May, a draconian anti-terrorism law came into force providing a possible death sentence for anyone publishing news “likely to promote terrorism.” Terrorism is broadly defined as the “use of violence or threat of violence with intent to promote or achieve political, religious, economic, and cultural or social ends in an unlawful manner.” It is not known if the government intends to make the Monitor its first test case under the new law.

The war in northern Uganda, involving government forces and the insurgent Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has escalated dramatically in recent months. Large numbers of civilians have been killed, and tens of thousands were ordered by the army to leave their homes last week.

Human Rights Watch

MPs Rap Govt Over Monitor

November 2, 2002

By Emma Mutaizibwa

MPs on Thursday condemned government's seven-day closure of The Monitor newspaper.

The MPs were attending a public discussion on the theme, The Freedom of the Media in Conflict organised by the Uganda Young Democrats at Lumumba Hall terrace, Makerere University.

Kassiano Wadri (Terego) said that because of government's failure to tackle the root cause of the war, it had turned its aggression toward the media.

"Government opted for the weak option, to close The Monitor," Wadri said. "Government through its mouthpiece The New Vision wants to give a false impression that all is well in the country. Government acted in a high-handed manner to close the paper."

Wadri attributed the continued war in the north to poor facilitation of the soldiers and "corruption" within the army.

Ken Lukyamuzi (Lubaga South) was cheered when he said that when the government begins terrorising the press, it's a sign that it's about to collapse.

"If you report that a chopper was shot, what is wrong with that?" he said. "If you stop Frank Nyakairu [author of the story] from reporting on what is going on, then we can get rid of you."

Lukyamuzi advised government not to pursue the court case on the chopper story but rather apologise to The Monitor.

On the war in the north, Lukyamuzi said President Yoweri Museveni should hold peace talks with LRA leader Kony outside the country.

"I will rejuvenate the motion of peace talks in Parliament," Lukyamuzi said. "If the president doesn't comply, then we shall appeal to the international community to impose aid sanctions on Uganda."

Reagan Okumu (Aswa) said it was an act of tyranny to close the newspaper.

Odonga Otto (Aruu) said the closure of The Monitor was "barbaric". "I have the data from this place, Adilang [the alleged area where the chopper came down], because I am from there," Otto said. "When Parliament resumes work on Nov. 12, I will give this evidence. I may force government to resign."

Ssebuliba Mutumba (Kawempe South) said government has run out of ideas and should hand over power.

But Tarsis Kabwegyere (Igara West) said that at times matters of national concern shouldn't be exposed in the press.The Monitor, Uganda

Govt Moves To Vet Journalists

January 3, 2003

By Carolyne Nakazibwe

The Media Council will soon visit media organisations to vet the qualifications of journalists.

The move, expected to be carried out this year, will see disc jockeys (DJs), artistes and scribes without journalism qualifications barred from working in media houses.

Similarly, radio stations, which refuse to stop broadcasting public debates outside their studios (ekimeeza), may not have their licenses renewed by the council this year.

Radio One, Radio Two, Simba FM, CBS FM and other stations upcountry hold live public debates every weekend.

Minister of State for Information Basoga Nsadhu said 2003 is the year for implementing the Press and Journalism Statute, which among other things requires journalists to have a degree in mass communication/journalism, or a degree in another discipline with a journalism diploma.

He said only honorary members of the profession, recognised as such by the National Institute of Journalists of Uganda (NIJU) due to their long time of service, would be spared.

"We want to deal with people who are competent and professional in the field," Nsadhu said at the weekly cabinet briefing in Nakasero yesterday.

Reporters and radio presenters without necessary qualifications will be sieved by this operation, unless a NIJU general assembly recognises them as associate members.

The Media Council is a statutory body and the Information minister appoints members to the council. The body includes journalists, government officials and other members of the public, although journalists are advocating the formation of a council free of government control.

Nsadhu said the Electronic Media Statute 1996 requires radio stations to operate only within licensed studios, and not bars, night-clubs or their compounds.

"Is the producer supposed to be addressed as chairman? All radio licenses are due for renewal this year and we intend to fully follow the law. Those who are not ready to comply with the law shall not be allowed to operate at all," a tough-talking Nsadhu said. "If you can't operate [according to the law] then don't apply for the license. Go and invest elsewhere."

Nsadhu warned media houses about the existing media laws like that of sedition and the Anti- Terrorism Act, which he said would be enforced strongly this year.

He said the implementation of the laws is not meant to suffocate the media but to protect the profession against "masqueraders".

Nsadhu said the law would this year also require all cinemas, makeshift video halls and video libraries to get licenses from the Media Council.

The minister also said government would ease access to information "which is substantial enough to please everybody".

Nsadhu said the Ministry of Education and Sports had endorsed a syllabus for the national diploma in journalism, which is to be followed by all media institutions.

The Monitor, Uganda

Government Move to 'Clean Up' Media Houses is in Bad Taste

January 5, 2003

By Carolyne Nakazibwe

Information state minister Basoga Nsadhu on Thursday announced that the Media Council would start vetting reporters and other journalists employed by media houses.

He said scribes without any journalism qualifications and therefore without practicing certificates would be automatically weeded out.

"If you are not a bona fide member of the profession, then you have no business in the profession. We want to deal with people who are competent and professionals," Nsadhu told a cabinet press briefing.

The journalism profession in Uganda is one which is full of people who can write, take photographs and broadcast, without the minimum academic qualifications in the field if any.

With an increase in media houses (172 in all have been licensed), employers are infiltrating other professions for labour, which has not been a welcome move in government.

Nsadhu's latest outburst follows a series of events that have left media proprietors on their toes, wondering whether the combination could be the end of freedom of the press.

Last year, Parliament passed the Anti-terrorism Act 2001, which bars the media from giving publicity to persons listed by government as terrorists.

Before that, Uganda is one of the few countries still using the law of sedition against journalists; a law whose yardstick has been generally described as vague and a simple measure to control the free press.

Before his promise to sweep media houses clean of "masqueraders", Nsadhu had stirred a debate of his own when he announced that public debates by FM radio stations were illegal and therefore banned.

A popular mode of radio talk show had erupted in the country, started by Radio One, which broadcast live every Saturday from a bar and night club (Club Obbligato) a show called Ekimeeza (the big table).

Because of the influence and popularity that came with the show, other leading stations started their own versions at different bars around town, causing hot debate on topical issues, most of them political.

CBS FM, Radio Simba, Radio Two and a few others upcountry jumped into the frenzy to match the competition.

On Dec. 19, Nsadhu announced that these shows were illegal and had to stop forthwith. Journalists and the public interpreted this as a means by government to stop public dialogue on issues that affect the regime.

They felt the move was meant to shut up the opposition, which had taken advantage of the shows to push their points home.

So when Nsadhu came out again on Thursday, talking about sieving people who work in the profession, the industry cried foul.

If this were enforced, the most affected lot would be artistes, DJs and radio reporters, the biggest bulk of which have qualifications in fields that have nothing to do with the media, but have found an entertaining way of earning more money by competing on radio shows.

"It is a very unfortunate statement. We will get the qualifications because he is in power. I have already got information about the courses and if it requires a leave of absence, I will take it, but nothing will stop me from reaching out to the people," Charles James Senkubuge "Siasa" of Radio Simba said.

Senkubuge hosts the radio's morning show Binsanga Wano and he was recently voted among the top radio presenters by sections of the media.

Senkubuge, an actor with Bakayimbira Dramactors and a graduate in Philosophy and Literature, said he didn't think lack of qualifications was the problem in the media. He said it was not like unqualified journalists had committed more blunders than graduates in the profession.

"But we will do it. Although I would love to hear one thing from the honourable minister; where did he get his certificate in being a minister?"

The Monitor Publications' out-going Managing Editor Charles Onyango-Obbo echoes Senkubuge's sentiments.

"Why is it that the media are the only private enterprise who are told by government who they can employ?" Obbo told Sunday Monitor. "It is coming at a time when government is taking an undemocratic and illiberal line against the press. So this is more like a control move, not a regulatory one."

Obbo said the media house could no longer be defined as a house of journalists, since some people are employed because of their special skills, that journalists don't have. Cartoonists, comedians, doctors, all bring something different from the traditional media characteristics.

He said even the Press and Journalists Statute 1995, is already out dated, because the media has changed.

Just five years ago, The Monitor Publications' administration had earned itself a name in the fraternity as the media house, which was strict on journalism qualifications before recruitment. That has changed.

"We recognise that things have changed. We have researchers, help columnists like Dr. Vincent Karuhanga Journalists remain the backbone of any newspaper, but increasingly they aren't the only players in the business," he said.

CBS FM's Programme Manager Abbey Mukiibi also said what Nsadhu is suggesting is not applicable in the newsroom, and is not right.

"Let government be flexible with things," he said.

However, Abu Kawenja, another actor who doubles as a journalist at CBS FM, threw his weight behind the minister in pushing those without qualifications back to school.

"The trend is that whoever enters the profession is accepted. Let the industry have professionals, there are many masqueraders," he said on phone yesterday. Although many of his colleagues lack the necessary pips, Kawenja who presents the station's morning show Bwakedde Mpulira said they should strive to get the qualifications.

Kawenja has a Music Dance and Drama degree and is currently pursuing a postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication.

The statutory National Institute of Journalists of Uganda (NIJU), also supported the minister on qualifications, but rubbished his threat to ban ebimeeza.

"NIJU encourages journalists to train. The problem is that the same government is closing down training institutions like the journalism school at Uganda Management Institute. It is frustrating, you want professional people and you go ahead and close the training institutions," NIJU President Nabusayi Lindah Wamboka told Sunday Monitor. Nabusayi, however, said for government to call for a ban on ebimeeza was "an empty threat" which is sending out mixed messages for a government that boasts of a free media and freedom of expression.

The regulatory body - the Media Council - has itself been turned into a laughing stock over the last seven years. Nsadhu says it has not achieved anything yet because the industry was being given a chance to grow, but practitioners say it is a problem to do with government control and lack of funding for the body.

Following Thursday's developments, the East African Media Institute (EAMI) - Uganda Chapter has frowned at the idea that the ministry is expecting the Media Council to carry out the cleaning exercise and other penalties.

"The Media Council has never worked and I don't see it working now. It has never served its purpose since it was put in place (in 1995)," EAMI President David Ouma Balikowa said.

Ouma said Nsadhu's threats couldn't be serious if he was talking about using the same Media Council, which is statutory and its members appointed by the government.

Ouma said the council couldn't as yet receive and act upon any complaints against journalists, because the public had no faith in it and saw it as government.

So far, cases that would otherwise have been handled by the Media Council, like sedition and publication of pornographic material, have been handled by government in courts of law.

"We proposed an independent Media Council to be constituted by the public and people with respect. This council would set up the ethical code of conduct to bind all media houses and practitioners," Ouma said.

The proposals for the Media Bill are still in draft form, but Nsadhu said it would soon be tabled before cabinet.

The Bill if Okayed, will bring together all the laws governing journalism and combine the Media Council with the Broadcasting Council, to decide matters on the profession.

The proposal also lowers the requirement for one to be a journalist from a Journalism degree to a diploma.

The Monitor, Uganda

Journalist detained since 6 January

17.01.2003

Vincent Matovu, managing editor of the local Luganda-language weekly Mazima, has been held on remand in Luzira prison since 6 January 2003, in connection with the publication of two articles concerning the war between rebel groups and government forces in the north of the country.

"This case shows once again that journalists are not free to publish their analyses of the conflict between the rebel groups and government forces," stated Robert Ménard, Secretary- General of Reporters Without Borders, in a letter to Information Minister Basoga Nsadhu. The organisation quotes from the report published on 18 January 2000 by Abid Hussain, United Nations special investigator, on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and of expression, in which he called upon "all governments to ensure that prison sentences are no longer handed out for media offences, apart from racist or discriminatory comments or incitement to violence". He had added that "a prison sentence as a punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion constitutes a serious violation of human rights". While not commenting on the content of this case, Reporters Without Borders has asked the minister to do his utmost to ensure that the journalist is released and is given a fair trial.

Mr Matovu is accused of sedition for having reported in two articles, published in October and November 2002, that LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) rebels killed thousands of UPDF (Uganda People's Defence Force) soldiers and took possession of the Pader and Kapchorwa districts (in the north and the east of the country). After appearing before a court in Kampala, where he denied the charges brought against him, Mr Matovu was remanded in custody on 6 January and is being held in Luzira prison, near Kampala. The measures taken against him prevented the publication of Mazima in the last week of December 2002. Mr Matovu's case is to be heard on 21 January © Reporters Without Borders 2003

Mr President, Try This Cure for Your FM Radio Headache

January 7, 2003

By Samuel Gummah Nabaasa

Your Excellency, I wish to address you on the issue of closing private commercial radio stations. You were quoted on radio West to have said that it is now government policy to close stations, which host Dr. Kiiza Besigye on their talk shows. You illustrated your point by equating such radio stations to Christian churches that allow witchdoctors to pray in them!

Radio stations in Uganda have become temples where citizens worship (read express) freedom, equality and solidarity. These three principles may not be Ugandan, but like anywhere in the world, we look through history and international cultures to find what works for us.

The policy of liberalization which gave birth to private commercial radio is itself not Ugandan. But still your government usually says that privatisation "is another achievement of the Movement government which must be consolidated."

Consider what these numerous stations have achieved.

Areas like Kabarole, where Radio Uganda signals were near impossible to pick, now have their own radio stations. In places like Mbale, the people who would wait to hear their language once a day for 15 minutes on Radio Uganda, now listen to their own children sing nursery rhymes as presenters send greetings and take phone calls in Lumasaaba.

Commercial private radio stations, they have also opened up access to information for a wider audience. The ability to receive and impart knowledge and information are not only fundamental human rights; they are important elements in social, economic and political development.

It is no longer the privileged few who have access to radio. These stations are both agents and mediators of social political change. Broadcasters have to constantly align the ideas of the political elite with the interests of the audience.

Radio Uganda, when it was dominant, was referred to as the station of those in power, telling their subjects what they (the leaders) wanted the masses to know. This one-way flow of communication is ineffective Ugandans always preferred, trusted and listened to other radio stations (including radio Katwe). Now different interest groups have alternative channels to express themselves.

Private stations of course are not perfect. Some of us share your frustrations on the quality of the information broadcast on these stations.

On closer examination of this latest government policy however, I find it hypocritical.

In 1993, when the first commercial stations hit the airwaves, there was little variety, some stations operated for almost a year without reading any news. When they did, the news was shallow that it passed as another joke on air. Government did not complain.

It was rather the pressure of competition and demands from the audience that led to the current programming variety.

The reality is that competition, coupled with a sense of identity, drove some stations upcountry and imposed a wider mix of programmes. Should government wait until competition drives these stations into more serious programming, we ask?

Yes and No. Considering the cost implications, the stations may never do it. These are businesses like any other. The only difference is that in the execution of their business plans; they are guided by ethical standards of journalism, which emphasize public interest as the primary goal.

If someone was willing to sponsor serious programming, there is no reason private commercial stations wouldn't take it up. Already, government relays information by buying airtime on commercial radio.

Citizens' views are slowly being churned into a public opinion for the first time in our history. Despite their shortcomings, private commercial stations have given Ugandans a feeling of "political empowerment."

Communities have been mobilized to debate issues that concern them. Private commercial stations reflect and nourish the vibrant private sector.

As Your Excellency blames private commercial radios for sensationalism, you do not mention your own government radio.

On my recent research trip to Uganda, I had an opportunity to visit most private stations in Kampala as well as the old Radio Uganda, which I shall refer to as "public radio".

At the private stations, I found state of the art technology, young, energetic and intelligent staff. At Radio Uganda, I was greeted by the smell of decomposing wood, rusted metal, a leaking roof as well as dejected, unmotivated and complaining staff. The contrast was as clear!

It is difficult to imagine that a radio station with almost 50 years of experience has been relegated by private enterprises with less than 10 years of experience. Moreover, unlike other public radio stations in the world, Radio Uganda has no restriction on commercial advertising. The station does not have to pay taxes or registration fees. But more importantly, it owns the transmission masts on which most of the commercial stations hang their antennae at Naguru, Kampala and other locations in the country.

Its staff has constant and continuous training opportunities both at home and abroad.

Also note that no private station can set up operations in Uganda without the guidance of skilled technicians and engineers from Radio Uganda. Credit these engineers also for keeping some of the oldest (museum type) pieces of equipment working.

It has been relegated because it failed to play the role of "voice of information, education and entertainment".

We do not need to look very far for a fairly successful public broadcasting system in a country with a history close to our own. In Zimbabwe, despite initial problems between revolutionary broadcasters of ZANU PF and the former white minority governments' broadcasters, public radio and television have achieved better success.

Even after opening up the airwaves for private commercial stations two years ago, the country still has none. Both Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and Uganda Broadcasting Corporation were set up with the help of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in preparation for independence.

Despite sweeping liberalization,sustained assault from both the government and the private sector, BBC, the world's oldest public broadcasting corporation continues to enjoy worldwide support.

Why then is Radio Uganda in such a sad state? Even its FM stations do not show up in the charts for listenership surveys. Radio Uganda has not yet re-invented itself in the new landscape where audiences are aware of their rights as consumers and less willing to be patronized.

I do not blame you for this state of affairs. There is a lot on your plate. Joseph Kony is still alive, a declining rate of economic growth, succession politics within the Movement, Rwanda and D.R Congo

But the president has his men, whose job is to develop policy. But rather than innovate, I hear the president's men in the communication sector spend their time "monitoring talk shows on private commercial stations to ensure they are not hosting exiled "Col. Kizza Besigye." Policy and other regulatory issues are treated as war.

You could choose to close those stations without ethnic or religious backing. But I understand that private commercial broadcasters in Uganda have a "kind of NATO alliance" where war on one is war against all." If this works the way it sounds, closing any station could provoke mass hatred of your government's methods.

The solution is not "to close some or all." Ugandans do not need to be kept away from political debate. Sensational news and views cannot carry peasants away. Part of the solution lies within the department of information in the president's office.

Let Radio Uganda be de-politicised. Borrow both from the BBC and Zimbabwe. A visionary board of trustees should be appointed from diverse political, academic and cultural backgrounds. They must be given authority to take objective decisions. They should also have nominees from the staff of the station itself.

The station's source of finance should be made more stable and less bureaucratic. Let it keep the monies coming from the renting of masts. Part of the taxes from private commercial stations should also be given to the public broadcasting station.

In return, it must be required to set standards in quality programming since the pressure of survival is off its shoulder. It can afford to broadcast to all regions of the country in all the major dialects. But remember the audience cannot be treated as masses anymore.

The closer the station reflects their aspirations, the more loyalty it will get. After all, Christ never closed the temple; he whipped tomato sellers out, overturned moneychangers' tables and immediately started preaching. The Monitor, Uganda

Government curbs live radio broadcasts

January 8, 2003

Reporters Without Borders protested today at the government's crackdown on live outside radio broadcasts of the views of ordinary Ugandans.

"This is just a way of preventing people debating national issues and making themselves heard", said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard in a letter to information minister Basoga Nsadhu, calling on him to allow the broadcasts to continue.

Nsadhu told on 2nd January that the law only allowed stations to broadcast from their studios, not from outside them. The street broadcasts, known as "ebimeeza", sprung up two years ago, when some stations organised round-table discussions outdoors and broadcast the results live. The "people's parliaments", as they were nicknamed, are very popular.

Among the stations affected are Radio One, Central Broadcasting Service and Radio Simba.

Police close radio station for reporting rebel attacks

27.06.2003

Reporters Without Borders today called on the authorities to permit the reopening of a Catholic church radio station in the northeastern town of Soroti which was forcibly closed by police on 23 June on the grounds that it broadcast "sensationalist" news about attacks by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in defiance of a ban.

"The radio station was just doing its job of informing the public," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard. "The activities of the news media cannot be the object of arbitrary restrictions for political reasons or else they will just be turned into propaganda tools," Ménard added.

The radio station, Radio Kyoga Veritas FM, is housed within the compound of the Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organization (SCDIO), which was overrun at around 3 p.m. on 23 June by police led by district police commander Patrick Awai. Claiming they were carrying out a security search, the police confiscated the station's news scripts and 25 tapes of testimonies by people affected by the fighting in the region between rebels and government forces, recently broadcast by the station.

The police prevented anyone from entering or leaving for several hours and did not allow the radio personnel, including Bishop Erasmus Wandera, to leave until 6 p.m.

Information minister Nsaba Buturo told parliament yesterday the radio station was closed for broadcasting sensationalist news about the rebels that were "alarming" the population. There is still no indication when the station will be allowed to reopen, despite calls by several parliamentarians for an end to its forced closure.

A government official, Christine Amongin, banned on 17 June radio stations in Soroti from broadcasting any news about LRA rebel activity.

Ugandan exiles to launch own radio

July 18, 2003

Alex B. Atuhaire

Ugandan exiles living in Germany plan to launch a radio station.

Mr Godfrey Elum Ayoo said in a statement on Wednesday that Radio Rhino International- Africa (RRIA) would help overcome the Movement’s control of the free and independent press in Uganda.

“RRIA is a declaration of an airwave campaign in the liberation, protection and promotion of the freedoms of expression and the rights to information by the press, mass media and the people of Uganda,” Ayoo said in an e-mailed statement.

Ayoo said that the short wave radio station would be based in Köln, Germany.

The radio would broadcast in English on daily events throughout Africa.

The station would go on air next month, Ayoo said.

Ayoo has been living in exile since 1986 when the Movement captured state power.

Museveni closed Soroti FM radio

July 20, 2003

Mwanguhya Charles Mpagi

The State Minister for Defence Ms Ruth Nankabirwa has said it is President Yoweri Museveni who ordered the closure of the Soroti-based Radio Kyoga Veritas FM.

She was addressing journalists at Nakasero on Thursday.

" The Commander in Chief was aware. He was consulted and he was involved [in making the decision]," Nankabirwa said.

She dismissed claims that the Minister of State for Health Capt. Mike Mukula masterminded the radio closure last month.

Mukula is Soroti Municipality MP and owns a rival radio station Voice of Teso in the same town.

Nankabirwa said that some local people were unfairly accusing Mukula of using his political influence to close the radio due to business rivalry.

Government closed the radio accusing it of broadcasting alarmist news about the attacks of the Lord's Resistance Army rebels in Teso sub-region.

Nankabirwa however said that government was considering reopening the radio station. But she pointed out that radio management would be prosecuted.

The Monitor, Uganda

Closed Teso radio staff sent on leave

By Patrick Elobu Angonu

July 29, 2003

Workers of Kyoga Veritas FM radio in Soroti have no jobs any more.

The manager, Fr Athanasius Mubiru, has sent all workers at the closed radio station on leave.

The Catholic priest said that he could no longer afford to pay the workers of SOCADIDO, the development arm of Soroti Diocese, which also owns the radio station.

The organisation's monthly wage bill is Shs 40 million.

The radio was closed on June 22 for reportedly defying a government order not to air stories related to attacks by the LRA rebels.

Fr Mubiru now operates an office from a used goods container at St. Immaculate Conception Centre, 200 metres away from the Kyoga Veritas studios on the Soroti-Serere road.

"If there is a case against SOCADIDO, let the government bring it forward so we settle it in court to allow us gain access to our property and documents needed to process payment of our staff," Fr Mubiru said yesterday.

The priest said that some state security operatives were forcing people to sign a prepared document to implicate Veritas Kyoga FM radio, claiming that the station had "alarmed the public" with its broadcasts.© 2003 The Monitor Publications

MPs grill ministers over Radio Veritas

By Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda

July 31, 2003

The closure of a radio station in Soroti sparked off an angry debate in Parliament yesterday.

Kyoga Veritas radio is run by the Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation (Socadido).

It was closed on June 22, when the police raided its offices.

MPs on the Presidential and Foreign Affairs committee asked two ministers from the President's Office: Dr Nsaba Buturo (Information) and Mr Omwony Ojwok (Economic Monitoring) to explain why the government has not reopened the station.

The ministers were appearing to present their 2003/2004 budget estimates. "The Catholic Church believe government is working against its interest," said the committee chairwoman, Ms Salaam Musumba.

Buturo described the Catholic Church's reported bitterness as "ridiculous".

MPs Elijah Okupa (Kasilo) and Mr Louis Opange (Pallisa) alleged that some influential politicians are behind the closure.

This prompted Kashari MP Maj. John Kazoora to demand that the politicians be named.

The Samia Bugwe North MP, Mr Aggrey Awori, said that the influential politicians are ministers Michael Mukula (state for Health) and Christine Aporu (state for Disaster Preparedness).

Bukonzo East MP, Mr Apolinaris Kithende, said that Mukula is one of the directors at the rival Voice of Teso FM.

Minister Buturo got into trouble when he told the committee that the radio station was actually not closed.

He said that the Police only took its equipment.

Musumba asked him to name the state security agency that descended on the radio and on whose orders.

The minister's answers failed to satisfy the MPs.

The MPs demanded that a report on the closure of the radio should be tabled in Parliament.

Concerns over Veritas thus overshadowed the debate on the sorry state of Radio Uganda and Uganda Television.

MPs had earlier warned the ministers that they would never consider the Uganda Broadcasting Agency (UBA) again if the government failed to have it in place this year.

The Ministry of Information had asked for Shs 15 billion but the MPs were surprised to learn that it has been allocated only Shs 150 million this financial year.

Law on false news should not be criminal - Monitor

By Halima Abdallah

August 6, 2003

The Monitor yesterday asked the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional provisions in the Penal Code that criminalise the publication of false news.

The Monitor lawyers James Nangwala and Alex Rezida argued the appeal before Justices Benjamin Odoki, Arthur Oder, J.W.N. Tsekooko, A.N. Karokora, Joseph Mulenga, George Kanyeihamba and Constance Byamugisha.

Nangwala told the justices that the law is not justifiable in a free and democratic society that tolerates freedom of expression.

“Criminalising what is perceived as false news is unjustifiable in a democratic society,” he argued.

He argued that the law must be demonstrably justifiable.

He argued that even publishing false news is admissible in a democratic society under international standards.

He said Uganda is democratic society under the Constitution, which follows international standards. Rezida told court that the law is vague because it has no parameters to show that what is published or about to be published is false news.

He said the law has a chilling effect on the enjoyment of freedom of expression.

Rezida argued that it is difficult for a journalist to know the outcome of a particular story. He invited court to look at what amounts to a statement, public interest and knowledge that fear or alarm may be caused.

The advocate admitted that freedom of expression is not absolute, but added that the Constitution does not criminalise it.

“Criminalising enjoyment of rights by use of Section 50 of the Penal Code has effect of taking away rights under the Constitution,” he argued.

He asked court to allow the appeal, award costs to The Monitor and issue certificates for the two lawyers.

The state, represented by the Commissioner for Civil Litigation, Mr Cheborion Barishaki, asked court to dismiss the appeal with costs.

He argued that the law is justifiable to limit the excess of individual rights that breach public peace, safety and rights of other individuals.

“A democratic society can tolerate to a certain extent and it’s the duty of the state to set standards,” he argued.

Barishaki argued that the law is clear and one does not need to bring meanings that are not included.

He argued that the law prohibits publication of rumours, reports, false statements that are likely to cause fear and alarm.

Barishaki said the laws are not protective of the state, but circumstances in Uganda differ from other countries.

The appeal arose from a constitutional petition filed by Monitor journalists Charles Onyango- Obbo and Andrew Mwenda in September 2000, challenging the constitutionality of the law on publication of false news.

The Monitor lost the case in the Constitutional Court 4-1.

The petition stemmed from a story published in The Monitor in 1997 saying that Congolese President Laurent Kabila (now deceased) paid Uganda in gold, for Uganda’s help in ousting Mobutu Sese Seko.

The story was adapted from a report by the Indian Ocean Newsletter.

Consequently, Mr Obbo and Mr Mwenda were charged at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court with publishing false news and publishing news that was likely to alarm the public.

Obbo now is a managing editor in charge of media convergence at the Nation Media Group, while Mwenda is the station manager of 93.3 Monitor FM.

The two journalists were acquitted.Since then, however, two more charges of publishing false news have been brought against The Monitor.

The first relates to the publication of a picture of a nude woman with men in military uniform shaving her private parts, and the other is the ongoing helicopter case.

Court shall deliver its judgement on notice.

Closed radio leaves sour taste in Soroti

By Ogen Kevin Aliro

August 22, 2003

Fr Athanasius Mubiru suspects a more sinister motive behind the government’s recent decision to close Radio Kyoga Veritas. The radio is run by the Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation (Socadido), which Fr Mubiru coordinates.

The radio was closed on June 22 after the police and army raided and ringed off its offices.

Some of the local politicians and the government accused the radio of airing programmes that seemed to cheer the Lord ‘s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels who attacked Teso on June 15.

Museveni petitioned

On Monday this week about 200 delegates from the Teso sub-region met with President Yoweri Museveni at the Soroti Hotel and, among other things, they petitioned him to re-open the radio.

The memorandum jointly presented by the LCV chairmen from Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Soroti and Kumi districts said that many people in Teso were not happy that the radio was closed.

Museveni responded that the station would be allowed to re-open as soon as the government completes its “confidential discussions” with Bishop Erasmus Wandera.

This is to ensure that the radio will not be “misused” in future.

The President says he has no problem with the church-run radio except that its broadcasts, he was told, seemed to abet terrorism.

Amongin ‘innocent’

Museveni also says that Disaster Preparedness minister and Kumi district woman MP, Ms Christine Aporu Amongin, had no hand in closing the station.

“It is me, me Museveni, who closed that radio,” he said on Monday.

According to Museveni, the government only has a problem with one person at the radio, and he has pointed out that individual to Bishop Wandera.

He mentioned no names at the meeting but it is possible that Museveni was referring to Fr Mubiru, who was sitting very quietly with the other delegates.

People’s voice

The President’s assessment of Radio Veritas is however not shared by ordinary people or many local leaders in Teso.

All those interviewed this week in Soroti said that the radio was doing a good job, and was most likely targeted to give an unfair advantage to the competition.

One bitter man is Mr Muhammad Onyunyu, the self-styled leader of the displaced people camping at Swaria Primary School in Soroti town.

Onyunyu says that the radio used to warn people about the rebels’ movements. The radio would tell the population where it was safe to take refuge.

“The radio was informing the people about where the rebels were. Now there is no one to warn the people. That is why so many are dying,” says Onyunyu, who is a displaced LCI vice chairman from Obalanga in Katakwi.

The LCIII chairman of Wera sub-county in Katakwi district, Mr Peter Ocen, has similar sentiments.

Says Ocen: “Radio Veritas kept going down to the grassroots to report the plight of the people. That is why they got into trouble. But journalists must stand by the people and report what is on the ground.”

Ocen fears that Museveni does not often get the right information.

“People in the middle are advancing their selfish interests. But the government should get down to the grassroots,” he said in a telephone interview.

A collaborator?

Fr Mubiru denies that the radio did anything that could be interpreted as helpful to the LRA rebels.

“For me the truth is in the people. They have told you what the radio was doing. That is what should be taken,” said the 48-year-old priest, originally from Maddu in Mpigi district.

“If you listen to the recordings on the tapes, I was talking about the cost of the war and arguing that people should not go for war at all. I was appealing to the rebels not abduct people, not to destroy life and the community’s property.”

Fr Mubiru says that no genuine priest would ever support killings, rape, maiming or abductions by the rebels or anyone else.

“By my profession I cannot support rape. Collaboration means you support their acts. The diocese can’t support that. They cannot even allow me as an individual to do it. It is a bad joke,” he said.

Fr Mubiru partly blames the abductions of the Lwala schoolgirls on June 24 on those who closed Radio Veritas.

“They closed the radio on June 22 and the girls were abducted on June 24. If the radio had not been closed, we would have warned the girls in time to run away. Those children would not have been taken.”

Media versus State

Fr Mubiru’s radio progammes were never intended to promote the Joseph Kony-led rebels or to embarrass anybody in the army or the government.

Says the priest: “We simply wanted to give information to the people down there and the people who were helping them.”

Even local leaders in Katakwi were using the radio to mobilise and send information to the people.

“Why it all turned on us and descended like this only heaven knows.” Fr Mubiru says that state functionaries have attacked and harassed him.

“Bishop Wandera even cried. He said they should go and get him instead of attacking his priests.”

Fr Mubiru says that the relationship between the media in Uganda and those in leadership is not modern.

“So it becomes a disservice to the community. People are crying out for information to go out to the president, the planners, to the donors. You can’t plan without information.”

The priest says that there is need to demystify “security”. People must be involved in planning and executing their security.

“Museveni has said he is going to mobilise the people, discuss with them. This has been my problem. For some people it is difficult to accept that security matters can be discussed in the presence of everybody. They think it is the preserve of only a few people; that it must be discussed in secrecy.

“There must be a crusade to demystify security. Is there a problem between truth and security? Is it that the two cannot go together?”

President Museveni had said that Radio Veritas was not even properly licensed at the time of its closure.

Fr Mubiru concedes that Radio Veritas had only paid the initial fee at the time it went on air.

He, however, argues that the licensing authorities never communicated to them that fresh payment for the license had to be made every year.

In fact, there is still an argument in the industry whether radios should pay or renew their licenses each year.

Fr Mubiru has since cleared the pending payments and licensing issues concerning Radio Veritas.

He also argues that had the payments or the irregular license been one of the main issues, the rival Voice of Teso radio owned by junior health minister, Capt. Mike Mukula would have been similarly affected.

The priest suspects that stiff competition between rival radio stations in Soroti could be the real explanation behind the closure of Radio Veritas.

Says he: “If the government comes up with privatisation as a policy for development, all people must accept that and acquire the discipline needed to compete.”

And he adds: “We should all be on the same level ground. If I pay for a license, why shouldn’t the other guy also pay? Simply because he has access?”

Hidden messages

Fr Mubiru meanwhile wants the government to commission an independent research into the insurgency in northern and eastern Uganda.

“The government should not just let this thing go. There is a lot of information, messages and lessons to learn.”

He lists some of the critical areas to investigate.

For example, why have government soldiers behaved the way they have in this situation? On the closure of Radio Veritas: Is someone just fighting a private business war using public resources?

On preparedness for the kind of situation that is unfolding in Teso: Do we plan? Could somebody else help us to learn and avoid a repeat in the future?

Postscript: Bishop Wandera and the government have negotiated to have the radio re-opened and most of the equipment has now been returned.

However, no order has been given to the soldiers guarding the radio and Socadido premises to leave and let the rightful occupants return or get on with their businesses.

So how does Fr Mubiru feel about all this uncertainty?

“I am now coordinating Socadido from a goods container at the Cathedral to keep the candle burning. Otherwise we would have died.”

Sounding more resigned he adds: “Meanwhile, we continue with the psychological torture that no one ever talks about.”

- This was the final part of our ‘Special Report’ series on the security and political situation in Teso.

Govt has no right to ban radio

By stephen mwanga changiriro

August 25, 2003

Some people have argued that a country's level of democracy is usually measured by how much freedom of expression its citizens enjoy.

Most regimes that ruled Uganda before 1986, especially those of Idi Amin (RIP) and [Dr Milton] Obote I have been described by today's government as dictatorial and murderous. They are accused of taking away people's freedom to express themselves.

Six years after President Yoweri Museveni took power through the barrel of the gun, the airwaves were liberalised. This enabled private investors to venture into the broadcast media industry. Subsequently, a number of private media houses opened.

Newspapers have also increased. Further, Article 29, which guarantees freedom of press and expression was enshrined in the 1995 Constitution.

Because a number of private media houses have opened, the government picked on this and now argues that it is different from past regimes because it restored freedom of expression, and is therefore democratic.

But the invasion and closure of Kyoga Veritas FM on June 22, clearly reveals the opposite of what this government has done for democracy. Kyoga Veritas FM was accused of airing news, interviews and talk shows promoting the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels who had just made an incursion into Teso.

Just last year, former Minister of State for Information and government spokesman Basoga Nsadhu (RIP) threatened to close down a number private FM radio stations if they did not stop hosting a certain type of talk shows broadcast from bars.

Like Kyoga Veritas FM, most private radio stations had laid emphasis on discussing the war in northern Uganda. Government reasoned that private radio stations did not have licenses to extend their broadcasts to bars.

Legal aspects and public opinion seem to have overcome the government's orders since and the talk shows are back.

When The Monitor, on October 10, 2002 ran the article, UPDF Helicopter Crashes In Fight, the government shut it down for seven days.

Foreign media described this situation as a siege. During this siege, a serious search was mounted by security personnel. Government argued that the army and Police officers were conducting an investigation into the helicopter story. Army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza had earlier on rubbished The Monitor's story as a total lie.

Subsequently, former Managing Editor Charles Onyango-Obbo, News Editor Wanyama Wangah and reporter Frank Nyakairu were arrested and charged with publishing information prejudicial to national security. This is contrary to Section 39(a) of the Penal Code Act of Uganda. Whether the story was true or not is a matter to be decided on by the courts.

Like in The Monitor case, Police officers who raided Kyoga Veritas FM confiscated equipment such as video tapes, computers, recorders, mobile phones and documents. The Police also detained Kyoga Veritas FM employees.

While addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing at Nakasero on July 3, Mr Nsaba Buturo, the Minister of State for Information told journalists that the Catholic-founded radio station had been closed to allow the Police conduct investigations.

Government has argued that closure of media houses is not bad as long as it is done in the spirit of national security.

But the biggest rope around the neck of the government is its failure to satisfactorily explain why it prefers closing media houses whenever there are any investigations to conduct. Why not Uganda Revenue Authority offices where some workers are accused of embezzling taxpayers' money? Why not UPDF headquarters, where paymasters steal taxpayers' money using names of ghost soldiers?

My reading of all laws relating to the media is that there is absolutely no legal authority under which the government can ban a newspaper. It is not in the Penal Code, the Electronic Media Statute, neither is it included anywhere in the dormant Press and Journalists' Statute.

So where did a government that is proud of having restored democracy, derive the power to order the Police to shut down Kyoga Veritas FM?

The government and like-minded individuals ought to know that the Penal Code Act, under Section 43(2), grants powers to close media houses only to the courts of law.

This law states: "When the proprietor, printer, or editor of a newspaper as defined in the Newspaper and Publication Act (Cap 305), is convicted of printing or publishing a seditious publication in a newspaper, the court may in addition to any other punishment it may impose, and in addition to ordering the confiscation of the printing machine, make an order prohibiting any further publication of the newspaper for a period not exceeding one year".

But even then, these powers are not absolute. This law dictates that; first, the publisher, printer or editor should have been convicted of publishing a seditious publication. Secondly, court's action to shut down and confiscate any equipment should come as an additional punishment, and thirdly, the closure of a media house must never exceed one year.

Thus the raiding of The Monitor and Kyoga Veritas FM premises without court orders was ultra vires.

Buturo's statement to Parliament's Presidential and Foreign Affairs Committee on July 30, that Kyoga Veritas FM was not closed but is not operating because the Police had confiscated its equipments can be used as evidence.

Ugandans would be most pleased if the government turned its guns away from the media and focussed on the LRA instead. Media houses should not be crucified for acting as avenues for disseminating information.

The closure of media houses contravenes Article 21(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees the people's right of access to information. Freedom of expression is a cherished right.

Silencing the lawyers

By Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda

August 31, 2003

Lawyers who have been debating controversial public issues are now under instructions to keep away from radio shows and newspapers columns

FM radio stations and newspapers might now turn to politicians and amateurs for legal opinion and comments on topical issues in the country.

The experts in the field - lawyers - who have been assisting are now under fresh instructions to keep quiet, whenever approached by the media.

Participating in public dialogue and hosted by radio stations is now a taboo for lawyers.

At least this is what the Law Council decreed in a newspaper statement issued on August 22.

The highly respected Law Development Center Director Mr Elijah Wante issued the statement.

Wante is the acting chairperson of the law council and chairperson of the disciplinary committee of the law council.

Is Wante reinventing the law?

No. He is simply reminding lawyers of their professional obligations as outlined in the Advocates Act 1970 (As Amended by Act 27 of 2002).

The regulations, under this Act, among other things, bar practicing lawyers from publicizing themselves and their law firms.

Regulation 22, under the Act, more specifically bars lawyers from unlimited interaction with the media.

It says thus: "subject to the provisions of sub regulation 2 and 3, an advocate shall not knowingly allow articles (including photographs) to be published in the news media concerning himself, nor shall he give any press conference or any press statement."

The following two sub regulations says that a lawyer may answer questions or write articles in the newspapers as long as he doesn't disclose his name.

If he wants his name disclosed, then he should seek permission from the law council.

Lawyers are however allowed to contribute articles to professional journals and publications.

For that matter therefore, Wante committed no crime in reminding lawyers of their rules.

What makes his move highly suspicious is the timing, and the people he seems to be targeting.

Wante issues the statement at a time when government is under legal siege, to put it in the words of some lawyers

How it started

A seasoned Kampala lawyer, Mr Erias Lukwago, turned up for Radio One's Spectrum show on August 13, to give his own interpretation of the Constitutional Court judgement of a case that involved Democratic Party (DP) President Paul Ssemogerere, and other opposition leaders, against government.

Ssemogerere and Co. challenged the constitutionality of two sections of the parties' law.

The Constitutional Court ruled in their favour, in a judgement delivered on March 21.

It among other things nullified sections 18 and 19 of the Political Parties and Organisations Act.

It also declared organs of the Movement system, organs of a political party and therefore unconstitutional.

The judgement affected the Movement grossly. When the term of various Movement leaders expired on July 11, the authorities chose to extend it by a new law.

But Ssemogerere and MPs Isa Kikungwe (Kyadondo South) and Winnie Byanyima (Mbarara Municipality) went back to court.

Guess what? It is Lukwago and Mr Joseph Balikkudembe who are representing them once more.

On August 13, a team of Movement leaders appeared before the parliamentary committee on legal affairs.

They included; National Political Commissar Dr Crispus Kiyonga, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Janat Mukwaya, Acting Attorney General Sam Bitangaro, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Hope Mwesigye and Minister of State in Office of the Vice President Adolf Mwesige. The Acting Solicitor General Lucien Tibaruha was also around.

Mwenge South MP Dora Byamukama chairs the committee. MPs; Ben Wacha (Oyam North), Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri), Wagonda Muguli (Buikwe North) and Capt. Charles Byaruhanga battled the government legal team.

The biggest disagreement between the two parties hinged on interpretation of the judgement.

The Movement side argued that the judgement did not outlaw their organs. But the MPs maintained that it did.

Politics arose and the government side blasted the judiciary for not respecting Parliament.

Lawyers were also accused of being overzealous.

Lukwago was in the committee room. Minister Mwesige said he respects Lukwago but urged lawyers to stop filing cases in haste - because it could affect management of the country.

In the evening Lukwago appeared on the talk show.

Law Society issues warning

During the course of discussion, Mr Andrew Kasirye, the chairman of the Uganda Law Society Disciplinary Committee rang into the radio show and accused Lukwago of advertising himself.

Mind you, Lukwago was on the programme with Mr Abdu Katuntu who also is a lawyer and legislator.

Kasirye buttressed his accusation with a letter on August 14. The letter was titled "Undue Publicity Generated by Yourself Over the Media". In the letter, Kasirye told Lukwago to refrain from further offending actions, such as press commentaries.

He also told Lukwago that a complaint against his appearance on the talk show had been received.

Kasirye's warning raises questions. First of all, Kasirye represents lawyers on the Law Council, which means that he would ordinarily participate in disciplinary proceedings against Lukwago.

By calling into the radio show, Kasirye reduced himself to a complainant.

Secondly, it is difficult to believe that such a complaint really exists. The hasty manner in which Kasirye received the complaint and immediately wrote to Lukwago has set itself a record. He must be a very efficient man if indeed the complaint did not originate from him.

Finally Kasirye is reported to be operating a website which is an international form of advertising.

He has, like so many lawyers in Kampala, authored articles. Some of them have been published in The Monitor.

Kasirye is known for his close association with the ruling party. Yes, the Constitutional Court said the Movement is a party. He even represented President Yoweri Museveni in the election petition of 2001, when Col. Kizza Besigye dragged the big man to court.

It is therefore not surprising that Lukwago's lawyers; Kwesigabo, Bamwine and Walubiri Advocates told him off in an August 15 letter.

Lukwago lawyer tell off Kasirye

"As an individual you may be pained that your beloved Movement was properly adjudged and described as a one party state/organization, but should your personal bias be the cause to refuse to recognise this judgement?

What is wrong with a citizen of this country correcting the record through the media to inform the public truthfully about the interpretation of the Courts?" Lukwago's lawyers wrote on August 14.

Law Council jumps queue

Word is doing the rounds that LDC's Wante was influenced to issue the statement - warning lawyers against appearing in newspapers and on radio.

Wante's statement is even being dismissed as illegal.

The Advocates (Amendment) Act 2002 says clearly that the chairperson of the law council shall be a judge of the courts of judicature - of which Wante is not.

Actually, the chairperson of the Council is Justice Solome Balungi Bbosa who is away.

So Wante, who is not a judge, can not act as a chairperson. It should be understood that the Law Council is a regulatory body of the legal profession while the Law Council is an association of lawyers.

Both bodies are established by acts of Parliament. Law Society therefore is under Law Council.

What about other lawyers?

Most law firms operate websites, but Law Council and Kasirye's Law Society have remained silent.

Take for example Katende, Ssempebwa and Co. Advocates. On top of the website, which is www.kats.co.ug the firm has a brochure in which partners are showered with praises.

"In his career, Mr Katende has seen and done any and everything that has been done with regard to law in Uganda. Ask any judge or legal practitioner in Uganda and, as one, they concur that without doubt Katende is one of the finest in the history of Uganda," reads the brochure in part.

It is placed in a paper file that contains detailed information about the firm. John Katende is the attorney general of Buganda government and Prof. Fredrick Ssempebwa, another partner is the chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).

Lawyers up in arms

At least by August 26 a total of 22 lawyers had signed a petition calling for an urgent sitting of the Law Society to register their dissatisfaction with Kasirye.

The lawyers put the Law Society on notice to convene a meeting within 14 days or else they would do it themselves. Their concern is that the controversial regulation is interpreted in a discriminatory manner.

The Uganda Law Society Act, section 18, allows 15 members to petition for a general meeting.

What do other lawyers say?

Makerere University Faculty of Law Prof. Fredrick Juuko says regulation 22 under which Lukwago is being charged is, "glaringly unconstitutional".

He said that it is shocking that the Law Council is invoking it at this time. He says that the timing and the target make its invocation political.

"That won't do and lawyers have the competency to protect their rights," he said in a telephone interview, August 28.

He said the regulation should be ignored in the meantime and changed in the long run.

Abdu Katuntu is another lawyer and MP. He says that the regulation doesn't apply to him because he is an MP with a constitutional mandate and public duty. "There is no way the Law Council can stop me," Katuntu said in an interview on August 27.

He feared that if the matter is not handled properly it might end up in court.

Sam Bitangaro, an accomplished lawyer, is the minister of State for Gender and Cultural affairs.

He is also the acting Attorney General. He believes that the regulation (22) that sets those stringent standards is unfair and that lawyers have a duty not only to the Council but to the public too.

Will Law Council suspend the regulation?

At least this is what sources said on August 28. That the council had convened on August 27 and discussed in the lines of suspending the regulation, which some members think is difficult to enforce.

All in all this controversy was brewed by government functionaries, according to sources.

Such functionaries think that errant lawyers must be dealt with. And Lukwago is just one of them.'

Govt reopens Soroti radio

By Patrick Elobu Angonu

September 1, 2003

SOROTI - The Minister of State for Information Mr Nsaba Buturo on August 30 re-opened Kyoga Veritas FM.

Government closed the radio in June accusing it of airing alarmist information about the rebel attacks in Teso.

ON the re-opening, Buturo directed the radio station never to broadcast any news about security in the area unless it is sanctioned by Soroti Resident District Commissioner Mr Edward Masiga.

Masiga is the Chairman of Soroti District Security Committee that recommended the closure of the radio on June 22.

Buturo told the radio management, headed by Bishop Erasmus Desderius Wander, to be stingy with the truth in order to cater for security interests of the State.

"The truth as you see it may have implications on other interests. So you must be economical with the truth in your newscasts. I hope that you will always consult the RDC before you report a security matter to maintain stability of the country," Buturo told Bishop Wandera.

He said his ministry will soon come up with a new Bill on the right to access public information. He said that soon he will call a meeting with all radio stations in the country to discuss how to report the LRA war.

"There are people whose minds are not perfect. They go around soiling government's name that closing this radio was harassing the Catholics. That is not the case," he said.

The reopening of the radio caused excitement among the internally displaced people and residents of Soroti town.

Bishop Wandera thanked government for reopening the radio.

"We did the right thing to tell the truth about the LRA invasion that saved so many lives, but this did not auger well with the wish of government," Bishop Wandera told The Monitor.

The bishop, however, expressed doubt whether the radio would continue broadcasting news relating to security in the area.

World judges write to Museveni over lawyers

By Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda

September 3, 2003

The International Commission of Jurists has written to President Yoweri Museveni advising him to do away with laws that restrict the freedom of lawyers.

The body consists of judges who represent all the regions and legal systems of the world working to uphold the rule of law and legal protection of human rights.

Justice Solome Bossa represents Uganda on this body. Justice Bossa is also the chairwoman of the Law Council, which issued, on August 23, a statement ordering all lawyers to refrain from participating in radio talk-shows, making public comments, writing articles, issuing press statements or commenting on legal and constitutional matters.

The Law Council statement was signed by the director of the Law Development Centre (LDC), Mr Elijah Wante, who was acting chairman in the absence of Bossa.

The Council statement follows a similar one by Mr Andrew Kasirye, the chairman of the disciplinary committee of the Uganda Law Society on August 14, warning a Kampala lawyer, Mr Erias Lukwago, against participating in talk-shows and any media related events.

“So that Uganda may remain in compliance with its international obligations, we respectfully request your Government to repeal or desist from applying Regulations 22 of the Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations of 1977 or to continue not applying it,” said the judges.

The letter was signed by Mr Ernst Luebar, the International Commission of Jurists acting secretary general, and copied to the Prime Minister, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hajat Janat Mukwaya and Mr Kweronda Ruhemba, Uganda’s representative to the Permanent Mission of Uganda to the UN office at Geneva.

Obote, Besigye to launch radio

By Alex B. Atuhaire

September 5, 2003

Exile radio up to fight Movement

KAMPALA - Ugandans living in exile have started a short wave radio station to 'give an alternative view on the politics of the country'.

A Ugandan political activist living in exile said that the radio, based in the German city of Berlin, will be launched on August 16 by two exiled politicians, former President Milton Obote and Col. Kizza Besigye, a losing presidential candidate in 2001.

Col. Besigye and Mr Obote will be hosted together in a one-hour talk show, Mr Godfrey Elum Ayoo told The Monitor in a telephone interview from his German base.

"They will talk about politics and the need to redirect the democratisation process in Uganda," he said.

The two leaders will speak on the radio again on August 17 from 6-6:30 p.m.

"It's an opportunity for them to use this platform to reach out to people in Uganda without endangering the lives of journalists working in Uganda," he said. Ayoo said yesterday that Radio Rhino International-Africa (RRIA) will broadcast in English from 17.555 Short Wave. The radio will broadcast from 6-6:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends.

Ayoo, who is also the director of RRIA, said the station's signal would be received in east, central and parts of South Africa.

He said that for proper reception, listeners in Uganda would have to place antennas of their respective radio sets at 145?.

Obote, the President of Uganda Peoples Congress and twice deposed by the army from State House, has been living in exile in Zambia since 1985.

Besigye fled the country in August 2001 in the aftermath of that year's disputed presidential elections. He cited harassment from security agencies. He lives in exile mostly in South Africa.

Ayoo said yesterday that the radio would help counter the Movement government's 'intolerance to free and independent press in Uganda'.

"RRIA is a declaration of an airwave campaign in the liberation, protection and promotion of the freedoms of expressions and the rights to information by the press, mass media and the people of Uganda," Ayoo said in an e-mailed statement to The Monitor.

He said the radio would cover news on current events, politics, economy, health, education, culture and environment in its daily broadcasts.

The activist, who has been living in exile since 1985, said RRIA will counter the NRM regime's 'intimidation, harassment, and forceful closures of private independent radio stations and newspapers and barring of accurate reporting especially on wars and insecurity where the UPDF is overtly or covertly involved in and outside Uganda'.

"Certainly we shall show that there are things you cannot control and these include the airwaves," he said.