A Cabinet committee tasked to advise the government on taming critical media is considering a constitutional amendment that deletes the provision on freedom of the press. The sub-committee headed by Public Service Minister, Henry Muganwa Kajura, right, was formed after three separate Cabinet papers on the management of the media failed to find consensus in Cabinet. (29-MAY-08)
Written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, this article was first published today in the Ugandan news magazine the Weekly Observer. It has been edited and prepared for republication here by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz. Photo of Kajura: www.publicservice.go.ug
The third and latest paper titled, ‘Cabinet Retreat on Media Management’, was presented to Cabinet on May 21 during a retreat at Statistics House in Kampala. Information and National Guidance Minister, Hajji Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, 72, presented the paper to a Cabinet session uncharacteristically chaired by President Museveni. That Statistics House session was the latest in a series of attempts by Museveni’s Cabinet to end what government calls “irresponsible reporting and negative coverage”. The Weekly Observer has learnt that the latest manoeuvres are a culmination of longstanding complaints by the President about the media.
In November 2006, Museveni wrote to the Attorney General, Dr. Khiddu Makubuya, instructing him to consider amending the Penal Code Act and other media-related laws to provide for more stringent provisions that would stop what he called “irresponsible reporting”. According to Cabinet minutes The Weekly Observer has seen, the President actually instructed his ministers to do something about critical media on more than two occasions in 2006. As a result, the Cabinet formed a committee on Information and Communication. Members included Maj. James Kinobe (minister of state for Youth), Kabakumba Masiko (Chief Whip) and Khiddu Makubuya (Attorney General). Among other things, a policy on the flow of government information was formulated and passed by Cabinet. It explains how government can share information with the public, providing for routine press conferences, etc. But this was deemed unsatisfactory.
Kivejinja paper
In trying to do something as the President had instructed, Kirunda Kivejinja in a paper titled, ‘Government Media Management’ explained to Cabinet what he thought was the problem. His paper was presented to Cabinet early this year. Kivejinja noted in his paper that liberalisation of the airwaves was done ahead of policy formulation. Some radio stations, he explained, were licensed and began operating before Cabinet came up with the policy on airwaves. He noted that as a result, it has been very difficult to enforce the policy on radio stations that started work before the policy formulation. Kivejinja also informed Cabinet that when the Media and Journalists Statute was enacted in 1995, there were few qualified journalists, yet the law provided for a university degree or post-graduate qualification for one to be considered a journalist. The journalists of the day, most of whom lacked the stated qualifications, fought the new law and succeeded in rendering it ineffective.
Kivejinja further explained that the new Constitution promulgated in 1995 guaranteed freedom of expression which includes freedom of the press under Article 29(1). Quoting Article 41, the minister informed Cabinet that every citizen has a right to information in the hands of the state, except if that information is prejudicial to security. He, however, says that such prejudices are not well defined. The Weekly Observer has reliably learnt that Kivejinja’s colleagues were not amused by his presentation. After describing the paper as “technical” and in need of “surgery”, the majority of ministers who are radically opposed to free press chose the Minister of State for International Relations, Isaac Musumba, to write a counter-paper to Kivejinja’s. The reason Musumba was chosen was his eloquent submission in favour of harsher restrictions on the media. The radical ministers also proposed a retreat to dissect Kivenjinja’s paper as well as debate Musumba’s reply. That led to the May 21 Statistics House sitting. Musumba’s paper, the second on media from Cabinet, used a recent report on electronic media done by journalists Karuna Kanaabi and Peter Kibazo to bolster his anti-press arguments. His paper was particularly critical of radio stations, which he argued lack professionalism.
Second paper
Isaac Musumba was not present to read his paper during the Statistics House sitting. The majority of ministers who subscribe to his view proposed that a committee be formed to study the matter and advise Cabinet. Kivejinja, according to various sources, pleaded that he be allowed to present his second paper, a third document on the issue in a few months. He was eventually allowed to present his revised paper titled, ‘Cabinet Retreat on Media Management’. Kivejinja spiritedly explained why it is difficult to muzzle the media. In fact, he concluded that there is no law that can allow anybody to “tame” the media.
The minister maintained that the Constitution guarantees freedom of the press. He said the 2004 Supreme Court judgment in favour of Andrew Mwenda and Charles Onyango Obbo that nullified the offence of ‘publication of false news’ had made it even more difficult to control the media. Kivejinja proposed that to deal with the media, government must be pro-active. He advised President Museveni who was in the chair to improve the government’s public relations instead of seeking to fight the media. He proposed two Cabinet press briefings a month, district press briefings, and regular presidential briefings. Quoting a January 2007 Cabinet decision instructing him to re-enforce the government’s public relations machinery, Kivejinja proposed that government begins buying airtime on private radio stations to disseminate its views.
He added that activists should be facilitated with airtime, transport and allowances to call radio stations and present views that are government friendly. He also proposed that the country be divided into media zones and politicians instructed to become active in their localities. Kivejinja further noted that the transfer of the management of electronic media to the ICT ministry had created a vacuum. For instance, the tenure of the Broadcasting Council expired in March 2008, but is yet to be renewed. Kivejinja progressively proposed that the media should be allowed to regulate itself just like architects do. He argued that requiring one to be a graduate in order to practise journalism as it is under the Media and Journalists Statute is no solution as a tabloid managed by graduates was the most notorious newspaper on the market, while a daily with almost its entire staff graduates was biting government very hard.
Harsh restrictions
For the second time, the majority of ministers were unhappy with Kivejinja for suggesting that there was no means of dealing with the media. The President was also understood to be unimpressed, having complained that a daily newspaper, an FM radio station and one vocal journalist were attacking his family unimpeded. With the President’s support, the radicals carried the day. A reliable source told us that Security Minister, Amama Mbabazi, described the situation as a multi-sectoral matter that touches on both the politics and security of the country. Those bent on imposing restrictions on media included; Mwesigwa Rukutana, Isaac Musumba, Amama Mbabazi and Nyombi Thembo, among others. According to our sources, it was observed that ministers who have been exposed by media for involvement in scandals sought tight control of the media, while those with clean records in the media felt the current laws were enough. A senior minister quoted Prime Minister Prof. Apolo Nsibambi as telling his colleagues that they should not seek institutional protection for their personal problems. Nsibambi reportedly reminded the ministers that they are public officials who should conduct themselves responsibly, as the media would inevitably be interested in every bit of their public and private lives.
Majority of ministers want tough restrictions
At the end of this meeting, which went on till late at night, the majority of ministers favoured the formation of a sub-committee to study both the Kivejinja and Musumba’s papers and advise Cabinet within one month. This committee members, as reported by the dailies last week, are; Public Service Minister Henry Muganwa Kajura, 73, Kivejinja, Amama Mbabazi, Matia Kasaija and Khiddu Makubuya. A source close to this team told The Weekly Observer that it might propose amending Article 29 (1) of the Constitution to remove the reference to “freedom of the press”. Using annual licenses to reign in perceived errant journalists is also being floated. Those considered too critical would have their licenses withdrawn.
