In the wake of Honorable Robert Kyagulanyi’s Monday arrest by Police, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has come hot on the trail of various media houses that were involved in reporting the situation.
The Commission has ordered for the suspension of Producers, Head of News and Head of Programmes in 13 broadcasting stations including AKABOOZI FM, BBS TV, BEAT FM, BUKEDDE TV, CAPITAL FM, CBS FM, KINGDOM TV, NBS TV, NTV, PEARL FM, SALT TV, SAPIENTIA FM and SIMBA FM.
These stations, the body says, relayed live programming, breaking news, and main news bulletins of the Bobi Wine arrest which did not comply with the Minimum broadcasting standards.
It is believed that the Commission received complaints that the said programmes contain content that was likely to mislead or cause alarm to the public; contained extremist or anarchic messages; and was likely to create public insecurity or violence.
UCC Directs
To avoid a recurrence of similar breaches during the investigations, and because the said broadcasters have previously been warned about related concerns, the Commission has DIRECTED that:
- Each of the above broadcasting stations should immediately SUSPEND the Producer, Head of News and Head of Programmes pending conclusion of the investigations.
- Each broadcasting station above should within three (3) days from the date of the notice, submit to the Commission the names, particulars and qualifications of the subject office holders
- Each broadcasting station above should within three (3) days from the date of the notice, submit to the Commission recordings of all live programs and news bulletins aired on the 29th of April 2019
What the Media Houses Say
Hajj Kazibwe Bashir Mbaziira, the President of Uganda Journalists Association expressed his disappointment to UCC referring to the move as “another step in the wrong direction by the ‘regulators’ as we seek to build and have a freely condusive and productively progressive media landscape in Uganda”.
He asked the commission to withdraw the suspensions and rather opt for engagement to sort out any failed areas.
In light of these Developments, the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) wishes to highlight the following:
1-Government through her several agencies should RESPECT the rights of the Journalists and desist from the continued harrasment of media players
2-UCC withdraws the suspension orders issued to NBS against her staff
3- We call for future ENGAGEMENTS between the ” Regulators” and operators in areas of operation they deem “unprofessional”.
To the Media fraternity, it’s at this time that we ought to SPEAK out further and LOUDER in UNITY as a body, otherwise OUR future stands ripe to be eaten in PIECES. These disturbing events only serve to remind us that: The PEN is Mighter than the GUN.
