The New Press Bills in Uganda: Implications for National Communication Policy and Press Freedom

This paper presents the government of Uganda's perspective of professionalization of journalism and the liberalisation of the media in the country. It is apologetic to the restrictions on the freedom of the press in Africa, for some unspecified conditions peculiar to African States. Some encouraging developments within the media industry, especially the liberalisation of the airwaves and the introduction of a degree course in journalism at the Makerere University, are discussed. However, the author mildly criticizes the suspect Media and Broadcast Councils whose composition are dominated by people handpicked by the Minister for Communications. The Media Council is empowered to license and discipline journalists and the media institutions. The question raised by many is whether the Councils are not merely a cathartic strategy by the government calculated to pacify an aggressive media that had started challenging the government's continued stronghold on the industry despite its claim that it's democratic. Whatever the case, as a watchdog in a democracy, the media's independence is critical. This is why the author is calling for a more comprehensive communication policy in Uganda. The paper raises questions over the wisdom of subjecting the Councils to the mercy of a government grant and some obscure 74 "acceptable sources " for their cash, arguing that this will in the long run thoroughly compromise the independence of the two bodies. The paper raises the freedom of information provision, albeit with a grain of salt. It points out, for example, that the provision is contradicted by the Official Secrets Act, which make it difficult for government sources to divulge information to journalists. In conclusion, it ask the government to address the issue of media ownership in Uganda, using relevant statutes, with a view to making them accessible to the poor. To argue this case, the writer adopts the theoretical framework of the dependency theorists, who invites developing (periphery) countries to dissociate themselves culturally and economically from the developed (core) countries as the only means of achieving their true independence