Is press freedom an elusive dream?

“For me, the biggest issue was teargas. I was on the campaign trail of Eng Patrick Oboi, Amuriat, the presidential flag bearer of the Forum for Democratic Change. He was an opposition candidate and sometimes, he disobeyed police orders.  Because of his actions, we ate (sic) teargas almost everyday. Our eyes were perpetually red. In Moyo District, they went for their guns. They were firing live bullets. Those were uncertain times. Anything could have happened” says Damalie Mukhaye, a reporter working with Daily Monitor and KFM. She is a versatile journalist whose career started in 2016. Uncertain times were not new to her.

Before the campaigns, she was comfortable covering protests and demonstrations. On October 27, 2019, while covering a student protest at Makerere University, Mukhaye wrapped her hands around a male colleague to shield him from a targeted assault by a police officer. As she shouted to other journalists to record the altercation, the commanding officer withdrew his men.

The 2020/2021 campaigns, however, almost took the shine off Mukhaye. It was a test on the bare ground, where the lip service paid to press freedom met police brutality towards journalists. It was her first time on the campaign trail.

“One time, pictures circulated on social media, showing a cameraman and I crying after being sprayed with teargas. My husband called me and demanded that I return home the next day. ‘This is an order. If you don’t come back, find someone else in northern Uganda to marry you,’ he said. I found a hard time convincing him that this was a work hazard,” Mukhaye recounts.

But why would Mukhaye expose herself to these hazards? In hindsight, it was passion for her job that drove her. And knowing what she knows now, she has a conviction she would do it again.

“When you love your job, sometimes, you have to sacrifice. Out of many journalists in the newsroom, I was chosen to cover this trail. This means my bosses had trust in me. I had to persevere and deliver timely news. Some people thought being a woman would get in my way of work. But, I am not scared to approach a hard task,” she says.

The 2021 general elections were a watershed moment for press freedom. While on paper, journalists were allowed to cover opposition candidates, in reality, a number of them were targeted for assault.      

Press freedom in Uganda

The question of whether Uganda’s media is free to objectively report on and analyse issues, or whether it is in an ever-tightening straitjacket is intriguing.

According to a December 2020 report by the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME), titled, Ugandan Media Coverage of the 2021 Election, the media landscape in Uganda is characterised by a liberal regime of investment (at least, on paper) and stringent regulation across print, radio, and television channels.

The report further reveals that although Uganda has some of the most vibrant media in east and southern Africa, for many years, the country has been characterised by the international press freedom watchdog, Freedom House, as “partly free”.

And, although the country’s constitution provides for the right to freedom of expression, including press freedom, several factors undermine these guarantees.

These factors include obnoxious laws and regulations, government interference, regulatory overreach, harassment and intimidation by security officials, advertiser influence, media ownership, professional and human resource challenges within newsrooms, and low levels of media literacy among the population.

Apollo Kakaire, ACME’s advocacy and communications manager, says press freedom has deteriorated over a period of time.

“The key takeaway from last year’s campaign period is that the intensity of violations is higher, with cases of the security forces violating the rights of journalists openly, with impunity. It seems that the people who head the institutions that were identified as violators did not give enough thought to the amount of (naked) force being used against journalists. There was some form of condoning impunity,” he says.

However, Sheila Kawamara Mishambi, a veteran journalist, says incidents that happened during the campaign period cannot define press freedom or lack of it in Uganda.

As a journalist, Kawamara went to Rwanda two days after the then President, Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane had been shot down, and covered the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

“I do not think there is a place in the world where you will find press freedom. Even in the US and Europe, the press is still struggling to get a voice. So, this is not unique to Uganda. Attaining press freedom is an ongoing struggle and journalists should continue fighting for their rights,” she says.

Uganda’s media landscape has grown to encompass more than 300 radio stations, 30 TV stations, and online and print media. Kawamara says although the media growth is on an upward curve, press freedom goes hand-in-hand with responsible journalism.

“While journalists have rights, other people too have rights. We have a responsibility to tell the truth, remain objective and clear while doing our job. Those are the objectives that promote press freedom,” she says.

Objectivity vs. political allegiance 

Culton Scovia Nakamya, a journalist with BBS Terefayina joined the campaign trail on December 20, 2020. She was assigned to cover the National Unity Platform’s presidential candidate, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu. She was to witness the brutality meted out on journalists first hand.

“The campaigns were already at fever-pitch. I had been watching what was going on, on TV. So, I was mentally prepared on what to expect. But the intimidation and brutality, which our colleague Ashraf was subjected to, sent shivers down my spine,” she recollects.

On December 27, Saif-llah Ashraf Kasirye, a journalist working with Radio One and a cameraman for the online Ghetto TV, suffered blunt force injury to the head, when a teargas canister hit him above the left eye, as police dispersed Mr Kyagulanyi’s supporters in Kyabakuza, Masaka District. He was hospitalised for more than two months. Two other journalists were also injured in the fracas.

“That incident hit us badly. We knew we were not safe, but after taking him to hospital, the other side of journalism was calling. We thought about pulling off the campaign trail, but who would expose the police brutality?” Nakamya asks.

On December 30, 2020, Nakamya was briefly arrested in Kalangala District. The army men who arrested her kept asking her why journalists were continuously posting on their social media pages about Mr Kyagulangyi’s arrest. He had been blocked from accessing the district. 

“When someone asks you why you are doing your job, then that is gagging media freedom. There is no press freedom in Uganda. They are just hiding under the guise of freedom of speech and the constitutional right for everybody to access information,” Nakamya says.

On a number of occasions, different spokespersons of security agencies have accused journalists of forgetting their mandate and taking up active politicking. Kawamara believes journalists should not deliberately put themselves in harm’s way.

“This is where duty and responsibility come in. When I was still an active journalist, I would go to the field with an objective mind, to tell both sides of the story. But, I have noted instances where journalists get to the field, quickly bring out party allegiances, and tell one side of the story. That is very dangerous for a journalist because you will become a target,” she says.

Kawamara adds that without being objective, journalists have no right to assume that the security forces know the rules of engagement when handling reporters. She says the growing belief that journalists can do whatever they want to is professional arrogance.

“Journalists are always protected in whatever situation because people want their story told, but if you begin hurling insults at the security forces, they will react. I have seen journalists flexing muscles with security. If you are denied entry, then that should be the story. Do not force your way in. Do not put yourself on the frontline for a bullet to come for you. How will you tell your story when you are dead?”

Continuous engagement is needed

In a bid to foster good relations between the media and security forces, Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and owners of broadcast media, under their umbrella, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), held engagements that included a football match and a dinner. The two institutions pledged to respect each other’s rights when undertaking their assignments.  

It appears this step was taken to stem the rising resentment that some journalists feel towards the security forces. These feelings were consolidated on February 17, 2021, when a group of journalists covering Mr Kyagulanyi as he delivered a petition on human rights violations to the United Nationals Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, were brutally assaulted by the military police.

Four journalists who were injured in the attack have since sued the Attorney General and Lt Col Napoleon Namanya, the director of operations in the military police. The case is before the High Court Civil Division.

Kawamara hails the engagements between the UPDF and NAB as a step in the right direction. “People should sit and resolve misunderstandings and lay down ground rules, rather than engaging in blame games and then, issuing edicts, saying, ‘We (journalists) are withholding our services.’ The media and security forces need to sensitise each other on the modus operandi, because those soldiers and policemen – just like journalists – do not deploy themselves,” she says.

 Despite attempts at reconciliation, given the ever-shrinking space for the media to operate, Nakamya says, with hindsight, she would hesitate to cover another campaign trail.

“We need better working environment. This last election was almost a battlefield. I would not want to find myself in that situation again,” she says.

Other challenges to press freedom

Brutality is not the only impediment to attaining press freedom. Kakaire believes low pay is one of the biggest setbacks.

“If people or institutions are not financially independent, they will digress from editorial policy to pursue money. At a personal level, we have journalists who believe it is ‘their right to be facilitated’ because their media house does not facilitate them to cover news stories. Also, because of the fear of losing state patronage, some radio stations do not allow alternative views to government policy to be aired in their news bulletins or talk shows,” he says.

For Kawamara, the Internet blockade, specifically social media, is the biggest threat to press freedom. “Curtailing electronic media and putting a price on it is worse than police or army brutality because it is intended to keep us in the dark. This is a violation to the Access to Information Act, 2005, which is more dangerous to press freedom,” she says.

On January 13, 2021, on the eve of the general election, the government blocked Facebook. Today, Facebook is still blocked and to access it, one has to use VPNs.

Testimony

A woman caught in the fray

I had a two and a half year old child, who I had to leave at home with a maid. Psychologically, I was not settled on the campaign trail because my mind was at home.

Secondly, our feeding was really bad. Every day, Eng. Amuriat would start his campaign journey at 6am. We had to travel with him because we were supposed to file a story every day. If he left you, there was no way to trace him because he would traverse three districts and numerous villages in a day.

We never had stopovers for lunch and deep in the villages, there are no shops where one could buy something fresh to eat. By the time Amuriat wound up for the day at 10pm, all restaurants were closed since there was a curfew. We spent whole days without eating.

 With time, we adapted to the situation and would wake up at 5am to stock food and water in our car. But, when we got to Nebbi District, I fell sick. I had ulcers and the poor feeding and lack of clean drinking water had exacerbated the situation. I was hospitalised.

 After I was discharged, I returned to my home in Kampala for bed rest. My husband ordered me not to go back on the campaign trail. I had to obey him.

Damalie Mukhaye

Reporter, KFM and Daily Monitor