Attack on the media practitioners is an attack on all of us

The Mouthpiece — 25 May 2011


Both local and international journalists have been gravely attacked during the walk-to-work protests in Uganda. During the protests we have witnessed journalists beaten and having their cameras smashed. We have also seen some journalists being shot with stray bullets all because they are covering protests involving the opposition. This is a travesty of democracy and an affront on fundamental rights not only of the affected journalists but all Ugandans and other stakeholders in Uganda. The media are the eyes and ears of the public. Journalists are obligated to act as a mirror to society. If one looks at him/herself into a mirror, the mirror will show exactly what one looks like. Accordingly, the media houses mirror exactly what takes place in Uganda. Sadly, even the number one citizen has branded some media houses enemies of Uganda’s economic recovery and that they will be treated as such. That President Museveni has branded some media houses “enemies of Uganda’s economic recovery” is something many if not all of us should be worried about.

When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me of a story of two girls. One who was beautiful and another one who was ugly. Both of them were staying with one woman who happened to be a mother to the ugly girl and stepmother to the beautiful one. The woman woke up one day, smeared her stepdaughter with dirt and dressed her in rugs but she washed her daughter and dressed her in magnificent attire and took them for display on the street. All the people that passed said the one who had been smeared with dirt was beautiful and the one smartly dressed was ugly. Thus, if the government is sure that it is clean, no amount of tarnishing by what Museveni calls enemies of economic recovery or economic saboteurs will taint its good image. Likewise, if the opposition is beautiful, no amount of smear campaign by the government will make it look ugly. So, let the journalists do their work.

The media houses have done a lot in exposing corruption, famine, disease out-breaks, human rights violations but also promoting the government programmes. It is because of the cardinal role played by the media that it is rightly called the “Fourth Estate”. Edmund Burke said ,”There were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate, more important far than they all.” The implication is that while ordinarily there are three arms of the state, the legislature, judiciary and executive, the media is another unofficial arm of the state much more important because of its critical role. News stories by our media houses highlighting the plight of very many people have ended up saving some people’s lives. At least I know of some people who had serious ailments that could not be treated in Uganda but ended up getting money for treatment outside Uganda courtesy of the media houses. The attack on the media should become a preoccupation of human rights defenders because media practitioners are human rights defenders but also help to ease the work of human rights defenders. If journalists are muzzled then the right of access to information will be muzzled. Lack of information gives rise to impunity. Assuming the corruption scandals in public offices were not reported about how many Ugandans would still get social services?

Independent media and free press are good for human rights defenders; good for politicians; good for the academia; good for religious leaders; good for business men; good for everyone. Thomas Jefferson once said given to choose between the two – government and the newspapers he would rather have the newspapers without the government than government without the newspapers. Definitely, I understand that we have some media houses that practice yellow journalism. Yellow journalism is the type of journalism which flouts the basic principles and rules of journalism. Journalists are merely messengers and not the message. Surprisingly, the president knows the cause for what he calls negative publicity. There is a Swahili saying which goes, “Chema cha jiuza, kibaya cha jitembeza” meaning a good thing sells itself and a bad one is advertised. I don’t know how our dear president wants the local and international media to advertise police brutality. I have for long heard the president and other public officials argue that they cannot do anything on the price of fuel and that if they reduce taxes, there will not be money for government programmes. This is paradoxical. There are hardly any drugs in health centres and we have seen innocent Ugandans die out of neglect; university education is now a preserve of a few because of exorbitant fees; civil servants don’t earn a living wage; no jobs are created for our graduates, among others. So, one wonders what Ugandans benefit from the taxes. The truth of the matter is that government wants taxes to pay Members of Parliament handsomely so that they can become subservient to the executive; it wants enough money to gratify the top military officers so that they keep their blind allegiance to the president; it wants enough money to continue bailing out NRM-leaning businessmen so that they generate more funds to keep the party in power; it wants enough money to sustain countless presidential assistants and advisors, ever increasing districts and a bloated cabinet. Contrary to some commentators who say the president is driven by altruism, President Museveni has perfected the art of transactional leadership whereby he transacts patronage for elite support. There are some ordinary Ugandans who have told me that the president doesn’t want many people to become rich because they will be ungovernable and maybe they are right.

In Uganda, the media plays a much more significant watchdog and oversight function than the parliamentarians. Like I have stated in the foregoing, the media are akin to a mirror which shows one the way they look. If you look yourself into a mirror and find you have blemishes on your face, should you break the mirror? No. instead you cleanse yourself of the blemishes. Instead of blaming the mosquitoes, it is better to clean the bushes. Instead of cursing darkness, light the candle. The government can clean the bushes and light the candle by doing exactly what it was elected to do. In contract law, if one party fails to deliver on the terms of the contract, we call it repudiation. We have seen a breach of the social contract and some Ugandans may not be wrong to call for the withdrawal of that contract.

Vincent Nuwagaba
vnuwagaba@gmail.com