Vincent Nuwagaba
Toward the end of 2009, the media reported that the president set tough conditions for Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) reopening. The president was reportedly incensed by some presenters who abuse the government using CBS airwaves. What impresses me is the fact that the president while addressing a gathering at Lwanda trading centre in Rakai district acknowledged that “nobody and institution has a right to abuse others. We all have our dignity which must be respected”. Because the president has come out boldly to emphasise our dignity that must be respected, I am sure, the president merits a pat on the back and I pray that he knows that our dignity will be respected not only through words but also through equitable access to
opportunities. However, the president needs to remember that he has also used his unlimited access to the media to bash the past leaders, the opposition and the media whom he has often called swine, poisonous mushrooms, bean weevils and vultures respectively, their immense contribution to the nation notwithstanding. I think what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Accordingly, before the president complains about radio presenters abusing him/his government, he and his lieutenants should refrain from abusing public trust and other
people. Otherwise, I am sure that even in the home, abusive parents will have abusive children. And in order to stop your children from being abusive, you have to refrain from being abusive yourself.
We would also like to contextualise the concept abuse. My dictionary defines abuse as a noun to mean 1) use of something in a way that is wrong or harmful, 2) unfair cruel or violent treatment of somebody 3) rude and offensive remarks usually made when somebody is very angry. As a verb it is defined as 1) to make bad use of something, or to use so much of something that it harms your health, 2) to use power or knowledge unfairly or wrongly, 3) to treat a person or an animal in a cruel or violent way, 4) to make rude or offensive remarks to or about somebody. Accordingly, many parties including the president are guilty of the offence of abuse.
Nonetheless, I take the president to have meant that the presenters on
CBS were making unkind, offensive or rude remarks about the NRM and
him as the president. Hence, the most important question should be,
why is it that his once allies are now making rude remarks about the
president? What could have gone wrong? Could it be that he has failed
or deliberately refused to keep his promises? Could it be love gone
bad? Are they just fed up of a boring relationship? Why is it that
the Baganda who fell in love with the president during the bush war up
until 2006 have now turned into his acidic critics? But also why
should a public official always expect kind remarks from the citizens
even though he is omniscient? Personally, I think any leader who is
willing to make reforms must of necessity welcome criticism. According
to Uganda’s accomplished scholar on media and human rights, my former
don Prof Fredrick Jjuko, citizens do not only have a right to
criticize public officials but also they even have a right to make
mistakes while criticizing the public officials. Accordingly, it is
the duty of the public officials to defend themselves and clear their
names that they are not actually what their critics say they are or
that they didn’t do what their critics say they did.
Assuming a public official was corrupt and the radio presenter said
so, is that tantamount to abuse of such an official? Assuming, a
public official was nepotistic and sectarian, does talking about it
mean the one saying it is abusing the official? Tolerance is one of
the cardinal pillars of democracy. This means while building a
democracy, we should tolerate divergent views even when they don’t
sound palatable to us. In fact, one of the enlightenment philosophers,
Voltaire said, “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to
death your right to say it”
The President may feel offended that Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) and other radio programmes that were banned have been used to abuse him or his government but
that is no solution. In this age and era, there are many online sites
which may turn out more dangerous than the radio programmes. What
people write and post on the internet is permanent and is read by many
people including the donors to whom the government has been hiring
people such as Whitaker to boost Uganda’s public image. I am worried
that with the closure of public debates popularly known as bimeeza,
many will opt for online communication and this will thwart the
country’s public relations efforts.
But more seriously, hasn’t the president abused public trust by
embracing sectarianism, patronage and keeping quiet on issues of
national importance? Hasn’t the NRM government almost made higher
education a preserve of the rich? Look at the tuition paid in public
universities. Didn’t he engineer the abuse of the most sacred and
sacrosanct provision in our constitution through paying to the members
of parliament 5 million shillings drawn from state coffers?
Recently, I watched on Uganda Broad Casting Television an open air debate chaired by Mr. Jacob
Oulanyah hosting panelists and discussants. A young secondary school
girl stood up and argued that if our country is to go back on track,
we ought to nationalise the parastatal bodies that were sold. Why?
Because they had created joblessness contrary to what was promised on
the eve of privatisation. I agree with the young girl because the sold
parastatals actually rarely employ Ugandans and if they do, Ugandans
are paid peanuts. Right now, Kenyans who work in banks, hotels and
other business enterprises are paid far better than Ugandans and the
argument is that as opposed to Ugandans Kenyans have the business
acumen. But most of the Kenyans study from Ugandan schools. So what
makes them have a brilliant business acumen than Ugandans? Assuming it
is true, Ugandans have no business acumen, should we or should we not
blame our leaders for that? There is no doubt whatsoever that what is
needed is transformational leadership. Uganda needs to be transformed
through education, industrialization and putting emphasis on
meritocracy in the allocation of resources both financial and human
resources.
The president made the remarks attributed to him purportedly
on a poverty eradication tour. Sadly, the president continues to use
the poorest approach to alleviate poverty and personally I am
convinced his approach will only abet the amplification of poverty.
The president reportedly donated a brand new pickup to Mr. Yassin
Ntanda, a leading Matooke (banana) farmer in Kansakala in Kagamba sub-county.
Is this the best way to fight poverty? How do you aid those that
already have using tax payers’ money? Sadly this is what the president
has done elsewhere and he erroneously says he is on prosperity for all
tours. The truth of the matter, the president is on early campaign
tours for 2011 elections ironically using taxpayers’ money. No
capitalist will ensure equitable distribution of wealth. What the
president does is a worst abuse to the taxpayers’ money.
I strongly feel sorry for the young man Bryan Bukenya who died in a road accident. Nonetheless, this should serve as a lesson to those enjoying the delicacies in the NRM government that the deeds and misdeeds, actions and inactions of the government cannot spare any of them. I am sure many Ugandans recall that our Prime Minister Professor Apollo Robinson Nsibambi strongly defended the idea that ministers should get Four Wheel Drive fuel guzzling vehicles on the pretext that our roads are very poor. The Professor of Political science and Public Administration didn’t realise that what was needed was to fix the roads. He also never cared about the ordinary citizens: the Nuwagabas of this world who couldn’t afford access to taxpayers’ money. Now, the children of the privileged have started dying in the road accidents. While the President blamed over speeding for the accident, the truth of the matter is that the accidents are as a result of the combination of bad driving and a sorry state of our roads. It is because our roads are too poor that drivers have to swerve from their lanes into other lanes hence causing accidents. I remember Andrew Mwenda writing in one his columns that in Uganda people who are sober drive in zig-zag manner to doge the potholes and should you see anybody driving straight, then he or she is drunk.
I would rather the President uses the taxpayers’ money he dishes out in a haphazard manner to work on our roads, equip our hospitals, improve the standards of our schools and build industries and factories to create jobs for languishing Ugandans. The President and other politicians must be tasked to address bread and butter questions.
Finally, the worst mistake the President can ever do is to muzzle media freedom and I would urge the print media to standby the closed radio stations bearing in mind
the words of Martin Niemoller who said, “At first they came for Jews
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for
Communists, I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then
they came for trade unionists I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a
trade unionist. Then they came for Catholics and I didn’t speak out
because I was a protestant. At last, they came for me and there was
nobody left to speak out for me”. Public officials shouldn’t victimize and demonise the media when the media practitioners criticize them. Like Professor Fredrick Jjuko, one of the leading media law scholars, the public have every right to criticize public officials. In fact, the public even has a right to make mistakes in criticizing public officials. The onus lies with the public officials to convince the public that the criticism was unjustified. Public officials must always be ready for public scrutiny and any leader who fears public scrutiny must pave way for others. Thus, to our leaders, the writing is on the wall. You lead, follow or get out of the way. For God and my country!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender and can be reached via email on vnuwagaba@gmail.com
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