Uganda: Govt Urges Private Media to Reconsider Ban On Covering Its Activities

26 July 2023
Nile Post (Kampala)
By Arafat Nzito

The Ministry of Information and Communication Techinology has urged private media owners and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) not to boycott government activities and programmes.

The fallout stems from a new presidential directive directing all government departments and agencies to distribute all government advertisements through UBC and Vision Group in order to ensure resource mobilisation efforts to capitalise and fund UBC.

President Museveni instructed in a letter to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja that all government advertising be conducted solely through state media, specifically the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC).

The directive further stated that any accounting officer deviating from this instruction would face dismissal.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, the minister of information and communication technology Chris Baryomunsi said that this move by government was misinterpreted by private media and appealed to them not to take their action as earlier communicated.

He pointed out that government is in discussions with NAB saying that it is not a sign of wisdom to be discussing and also boycotting at the same time.

"This is a matter that is being discussed and they (NAB) appealed to the president who offered a meeting with them on August 10. We have been discussing with NAB with a view of seeing how we can implement the guidance of the president without injuring the interest of the private media," he said.

Baryomunsi, further asked private media not to go into confrontation with government but rather hold discussions and find a lasting solution on how they can work together as it has been.

"It will be premature for the private media to boycott government when we are having discussions and we have not disagreed in this process," he added.

This appeal comes on the heels of numerous media blackout declarations against government programmes by other associations that have joined NAB, including the Uganda Editors Guild (UEG) and the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association (UPPA), among others.

Read the original article on Nile Post.

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