The media has a duty to accord all candidates same exposure

In this convincing commentary published in today's Daily Monitor, Mr. Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba, argues that in the spirit of democracy and fairness, all candidates should be accorded equal airtime on radio and other reportage

I was appalled by recent reports in the media that nine radio stations had refused to run Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) presidential candidate Kizza Besigye’s campaign adverts because the stations are owned by NRM “big boys’’.

The banning of Dr Besigye’s radio adverts on some private FM stations has been a typical NRM character since 1990s, and in all fairness, this should not be part of us anymore as a growing democracy. As some of you may be aware, 1n 1993, the government stopped government offices from giving any advertisement business to the Monitor newspaper, just because they wanted to run it down, which some in the NRM call ‘dying naturally due to mismanagement’.

The Monitor lost about 70 per cent of its advertisement revenue until this decision was reversed in 1997. So, saying it is ‘free will’ for private radio stations to reject Besigye’s adverts is a nonstarter. We should encourage radio owners to contribute to the fairness of these elections by according all candidates the same level of exposure to the voters as much as possible.

There is no harm in this as long as they are not breaking any laws in the process. Radio discrimination by private owners has no place in a genuine democracy. What these radio stations are doing is unacceptable. It’s like opening up a shop and deciding to sell goods only to a specific ethnic group or individuals.

All these forms of discriminations by private enterprises should not appear to be promoted by the political elite in our country as the head of NRM campaign Communications Bureau, Ofwono Opondo, was doing in an NTV YouTube video released recently. Even the chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Badru Kiggundu, appears to disagree with what these private stations are doing. The fact is that we should cherish and guard the right of free speech in Uganda. We must always be willing to defend people’s right to say things we deplore to the ultimate degree. That is the way forward!

In USA, they have got the “fairness doctrine’’ introduced, I believe, in the 1940s and it requires broadcasters to cover important controversial issues and to provide an opportunity for contrasting views on those issues. The rules state that radio or TV stations that sell airtime to a political advocate must give free airtime to an opponent to respond. This was rectified by the ‘’Cullman Doctrine’’ in 1960s which holds that a station broadcasting a sponsored advertisement or programme on one side of a controversial issue, thereafter may not refuse to present the opposing viewpoint merely because the station could not obtain paid sponsorship for the opposition presentation. The Americans have also got the ‘equal time’ rule which requires radios and TVs to give equal time to qualified candidates for public office.

What Ofwono Opondo was talking about in the video, of radios or newspapers endorsing candidates in developed nations, is true, but it has no relevance to the radio discrimination going on in Uganda at the moment. By the way, even newspapers that have endorsed candidates are required by law to give space to the opposing views in these countries. For instance, in the UK, the Daily Mail is a known Conservative newspaper but it always finds space for the Labour candidates because the law requires them to do so.

Finally, the State should start taking their Access to Information Act (2005) seriously to help bridge the gap between the government and Ugandans. Any information from government and non-governmental organisations should be made public to avoid more surprises.

This encourages openness and transparency in public institutions. For instance, here in the UK, we have got the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Data Protection Act 1998 under the office of the Information Commissioner who reports directly to the Parliament, and it is helping everybody.

I have got as much right to know how any ministry is being run as anybody else in the country. Of course, they are some exemptions, but most of this information is not concealed to anybody in the UK. This should be the same in Uganda as it will also help in reducing the levels of corruption in the state system.

There is no point carrying out all this public inquiries into the deaths of big personalities and now we are doing the same with the burning of the Kasubi Tombs, but the public never gets to know the findings. We should have transparency in government dealings.

Mr Semuwemba lives in the United Kingdom

Nine radio stations decline Besigye ads

In this Sunday Monitor article, Benon Hebert Oluka relays how some radio stations are conspiring to deny Dr. Kizza Besigye and IPC radio airtime

Nine radio stations have declined to air campaign advertising material designed by the Inter-Party Cooperation to drum up support for their presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye.

The Director for Publicity and Communication at the IPC Campaign Bureau, Ms Margaret Wokuri, told Sunday Monitor that they had contacted the nine FM stations as part of their effort to spread their campaign message countrywide.

Ms Wokuri said the stations are Super FM in Kampala District, Mighty Fire FM in Kitgum, Kiboga FM, Voice of Teso, Voice of Busoga, Rukungiri FM, Liberty FM in Masindi, Kinkizi FM in Kanungu, and Muhabura FM in Kisoro.

According to Ms Wokuri, when they contacted the sales agents of the nine FM stations to inquire whether they could do business with IPC, the agents for two of the radio stations, Kinkizi FM and Muhabura FM, flatly refused.

The agents for the other seven promised to revert on whether they could do business with IPC after contacting their respective managers, but returned with negative responses.

“For Super FM, they said they could not air our adverts because they didn’t agree with our content. They wanted to change the content, which of course we could not accept,” she said.

Efforts to speak to the proprietor of Super FM, Mr Peter Ssematimba, were futile. Mr Ssematimba’s assistant, who picked his phone, said he would not be available to comment on the issue since he was addressing his supporters at various campaign rallies.

Nearly all radio stations fingered by the IPC for refusing to air their adverts belong to politicians affiliated to the ruling National Resistance Movement party, which is led by President Museveni. The incumbent is campaigning against Dr Besigye and seven other candidates to retain the presidency. Many of the other seven candidates have also suffered media blackouts, especially in the countryside.

Among the most prominent radio stations owned by NRM-leaning politicians are Kinkizi FM (NRM Secretary General and Security Minister Amama Mbabazi), Voice of Teso and Voice of Busoga (NRM Vice Chairman for Eastern Uganda Capt. Mike Mukula), Rukungiri FM (former Health Minister Maj. Gen. Muhwezi), and Super FM (NRM politician Ssematimba).

Capt. Mukula, who is contesting to represent Soroti Municipality in Parliament on the NRM ticket, confessed that his two stations had declined to air Dr Besigye’s adverts. He defended the decision, saying it was the right of his companies to make decisions as they please.

“Me being the chairman board of directors [of Voice Media Group, which owns Voice of Teso and Voice of Busoga] and chairman of [NRM in Eastern] region, I don’t want to have problems with party. It is business alright [and] I definitely need that money but I also don’t want to jeopardise my political career,” he said.

Early this year, former youth state minister Felix Okot Ogong, who represents Dokolo County in Parliament, was compelled to write an apology to President Museveni after his FM radio station hosted Uganda People’s Congress party President Olara Otunnu.

Mr Ogong said in his written apology, which he sent to all major domestic media houses that he was sorry if Mr Otunnu’s appearance on his radio station had offended his party leader.

Ms Wokuri said they have written a formal complaint letter to the Electoral Commission.

Electoral Commission spokesman Willy Ochola said they would wait for the IPC formal complaint before taking action. “We shall talk to these people to find out why they are declining [to air IPC adverts]. Then, secondly, we shall consult with the Media Council to see what they can do about it because all issues to do with private radio stations are to do with the Media Council. They are the ones who can take action, including de-registering them.”

Mr Ochola, however, castigated the actions of the radio station managers and proprietors because “they are supposed to serve all Ugandans.”

Government denying Besigye access to radios, says opposition coalition

There's no doubt that the state media coverage of presidential campaigns favours the incumbent, Yoweri K. Museveni. In this Daily Monitor article published on November 19, Francis Mugerwa and Gerald Bareebe report about Dr. Kizza Besigye being denied radio airtime in Bunyoro

The Inter-Party Cooperation has issued a statement protesting what they said were deliberate moves by the government to deny their presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, access to voters by blocking him from local radio stations.

“This is a deliberate effort to deny Dr Besigye opportunities to address issues that affect the general public. Radio stations should be compelled by the regulator to offer fair coverage to all candidates vying for public office,” the statement issued yesterday, said.

Fundamental role: The statement notes that radio plays a fundamental role in informing and educating the public about the issues that affect them.

“Majority of Ugandans live in rural areas where radio is the only source of information. Denying them information … takes away their fundamental rights of freedom to make their own choices … Ugandans needs all the information about presidential candidates so that they make an informed decision come 2011,” the statement reads in part.

This comes less than 24 hours after Dr Besigye’s talk-show on Kagadi-Kibaale Community Radio (KKCR) ended prematurely when the station was switched off 20 minutes into the programme.

It also comes three days after six radio stations in Bunyoro denied Dr Besigye access to their airwaves, citing fear of retribution from the State. These stations include Bunyoro Broadcasting Services, King’s Broadcasting Services, Kitara FM, Spice FM, Radio Hoima and Liberty Broadcasting Services.

The Electoral Commission yesterday condemned the Kagadi incident with deputy spokesman Paul Bukenya, saying he was surprised that such an incident has again happened.

Mr Bukenya said the EC met officials from the Media Council, the Media Centre and the Broadcasting Council last week and urged them to guarantee access to media to all the candidates.

The spokesperson of Dr Besigye’s campaign, Ms Margaret Wokuri, yesterday said the move to block Dr Besigye from speaking on rural radio stations is done deliberately by the ruling NRM party to derail his presidential campaign. 

FDC officials yesterday said Dr Besigye’s show on KKCR Radio started at 9pm and was supposed to end at 10pm but at about 9:19pm the management allegedly switched off the radio claiming that the generator had developed technical problems.

The IPC secretariat accused Mr Julius Mwalimu Musheshe, the chairman of Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme, an organisation that owns the station, of ordering the management to switch off the radio.

For about one-and-a half hours, Dr Besigye and other FDC officials remained around the station premises waiting for the radio to get back on air. As it approached 11pm, they left following a communication from management that it would lock the premises by midnight.

The Hoima FDC chairman, Mr Jackson Wabyoona, said the party had paid Shs1 million for the show adding that they have instructed the Kibaale FDC district chairman, Mr Muhereza Ayebale Kanyarutooke to recover the money from the station management. 

Mr Anthony Lwanga, the station manager, confirmed the incident but dismissed reports linking the matter to government sabotage.

“The station went off air 20 minutes after Dr Besigye has started talking but that was due to a technical problem. When the generator went off, we tried our best and I was constantly updating Dr Besiye who was still seated in our studio that things will get better,” Mr Lwanga said. “By the time the generator was repaired, he had already gone and we tried to get him back but it was late.” 

The Uganda Media Council yesterday issued a statement warning private and public media houses against denying candidate airwaves.

“The Media Council reminds proprietors of radio and television that public airwaves are held in trust and so, if one is entrusted with a frequency ….should not hold it as a private property,” the statement read in part.