Journalists safety: “Nowhere is safe”

Johnson Were, 49, a freelance photographer attached to the Vision Group, was covering the Kyabazinga Rugby 7s last week in Bugembe Stadium, Jinja, after Alex Mubiru was involved in a scuffle with Erasmus Aredo on the touchline.

Were had just shared a light moment with Mubiru, an African champion, and when the altercation started, he moved to a safer distance inside the pitch to take pictures. As he was checking the pictures, Aredo, who was part of the organisers, charged towards him warning him to delete the pictures.

A shaky video grab that went viral, vividly shows Aredo, a notorious offender, launching the attack while Were tried to keep him at arm’s length.

In disturbing images, trying to save his nearly two-year Canon 6D Mark II digital camera, Were, who was falling under the attack, tossed the camera at a safer distance, breaking its hood. Audrey Lang, a Kobs fan commonly known as Mama Kobs, picked the camera to save it as some onlookers dispersed like seeds released through explosive dehiscence.

Shaken up

“I was not the only person with a camera. It surprised me why he chose to attack me,” Were, who said this was the first time he was being attacked at a rugby ground, said.

But Were, an argumentative journalist, has in the past been confronted by unruly rally fans and motorsport event organisers.

Were said he was shaken up by the attack.

“His late dad was a very good friend of mine but for 15 years in covering rugby, this is the first time this happened to me. At motorsport events I have been attacked on several occasions for taking photos people don’t like,” Were, who has covered sports events since 2000, said.

After reporting a case at Bugembe Police, Were seeks a replacement of his camera, which cost him Shs8m in December 2019, because it was damaged in the scuffle. He also wants his Canon EF 70-200mm lens repaired.

More attacks

Were's attack has re-ignited debate about journalists safety in Uganda. But he is not the only sports journalist to be attacked in line of duty.

Elly Kyeyune, a staff reporter with a local radio, AKaboozi, was attacked inside the premises of Fufa at Mengo in 2016 in the build-up to the Fufa elections.

After going through the rituals of signing the tired blue guestbook at the gate, he waited for the two candidates allocated that day; incumbent Moses Magogo and Proline owner Mujib Kasule to arrive.

Just before the candidates arrived, Dan Walusimbi, who was opposed to the process, forced his way into the premises with a group of people, some carrying placards.

Kyeyune, a freelancer with The Observer, got out his phone to take pictures of the proceedings. Hassan Kirunda, a former radio journalist, who has dedicated his life to the security detail of Magogo, accosted the journalist with a stick in one hand, which Kyeyune says was the size of a cattle prod and a metallic bar in another.

“He ordered me to take back the phone. While I was still questioning, Patrick Ntege [the national teams’ manager who stooges around Magogo] joined in. Kirunda grabbed my right hand and Ntege the left. They forcefully threw me down to the tarmac. I was unconscious for more than five minutes. Later, Joseph Mwanje [a Fufa official] and Philip Ssozi [a former national team player], helped me to the verandah while I was bleeding,” the 35-year-old journalist recalls.

He would spend 12 hours at Lisa Medical Centre where Fufa spokesman Ahmed Hussein offered to pay part of the Shs250,000 bill.

Kyeyune opened an assault case at Old Kampala Police and made statements at his places of work.

Six years later, Kyeyune says he has not got justice despite Edgar Watson’s [Fufa CEO] attempts to reconcile both parties.

“He [Kirunda] apologised but I did not forgive him,” Kyeyune said with a heavy heart.

Nowhere is safe

There are other journalists whose cameras have been destroyed at major events, especially the online journalists, some of whom do not subscribe to the sports body, USPA.

Henry Musabe, an online journalist, recalled being attacked in the mixed zone at St Mary’s Stadium Kitende by the security wardens during a league game, while yours truly was harrassed by police officers managing the gates at Lugogo when Police was using the pitch as its home ground for league games last year. Numerous other incidents of assault are reported at kickboxing and boxing events.

Even a gentleman’s sport like cricket has not avoided shame. In 2007, the then Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) president William Kibuuka Musoke assaulted veteran photographer Mpalanyi Ssentongo with Joseph Opio then stating that Musoke and the ilk, treat journalists with all the tolerance of a tin-pot despot, for his hostile attitude.

The plot

USPA president Patrick Kanyomozi advised subscribing journalists to “stay away from rugby games” while responding to the incident that happened to Were, the USPA General Secretary.

Kanyomozi issued a letter making clear the widespread intimidation, violence and other misconduct directed at journalists is unacceptable. He asked sponsors, Nile Special, who also fund USPA activities to take a serious concern

The Uganda Rugby Union (URU) is not remorseful although they have promised to start an investigation into the issue, and Aredo publicly apologised for his behaviour. There is a lot of lip service despite the unwelcome scenes.

Yet this is not the first time journalists take a similar stand against rugby, a sport that has numerous players with an attitude of entitlement.

18 months ago, journalists boycotted events at Legends grounds after numerous members, including the head of sports at the Nation Media Group Ismail Dhakaba, were denied access. In a strange turn of events, Were was against the industrial decision!

But Kyeyune says no place is safe for sports journalists.

“In motorsport, they give you an accreditation tag reminding you are attending at your own risk. Event venues should assure us security. It is time journalists are also offered protection. Otherwise no place is safe,” Kyeyune sums.

Safety key

Partly, the problem is in the system. USPA does not have a safety committee while most of its membership is freelance.

Clive Kyazze, a broadcaster with Sanyu FM blames the assaults on a divided sports house along lines of greed and personal interests.

“We are belittled everywhere, used and dumped and we never pick lessons. The best way to turn this around is to wear crocodile skins, work together as a team and always fight for one another as one family, however big or small the matter is. We spend our entire careers fighting wars that don't concern us, it's time we started fighting for our own respect and dignity," Kyazze, a firm believer of industrial action, said.

Kanyomozi, a sports anchor on KFM, has advised that journalists’ safety should always come first.

“Our job — and it’s important that we are allowed to do it — is to be there to observe,” he said.

He advises journalists to create a security plan and maintain contact throughout the event they are covering. He asks freelance journalists to carry a letter of work from their attached institutions outlining the assignment, as well as the USPA card.

“There are a lot of people who weren’t with any identification who ended up arrested or turned away from events. A USPA card can save the day when you are not attached to any particular media house,” he said.

Self defence

The most prudent approach in case of an attack should be engaging various departments — legal, security or human resources — to provide journalists with assistance they may need as a result of an incident on the job. But USPA responds softly whenever its journalists come under attack. They bark but don’t bite.

Because journalists’ safety is critical, police Sergeant Moreen Awori, a black belt holder in Taekwondo and self defence instructor, says that such incidents, while they cannot be tolerated, call for action.

Self defence is a legal shield to people who actively try to protect themselves from actual harm or imminent harm against their bodies or life. But she is quick to mention that the degree of self defence must be necessary and reasonable.

Awori says that journalists need training in the basics of self defence because there is a section of the public that gets annoyed by their work or those that could simply target their expensive equipment.

To train a formal group of less than 30 people, Awori says it may take about three months of 60-minute sessions at least thrice a week.

“For journalists, physical skills are needed to protect their equipment and life,” Awori said.

As Kanyomozi stresses, journalism is not a crime!