UGANDA: The Media is Not Free

By Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi
KAMPALA, Oct 13 (IPS) Every Saturday afternoon at a public house in the
capital city, Lynne Anite, a journalism student at Makerere University,
would join senior government officials, academics, and even business
people to debate about current affairs.

In her final year of university, Anite had never been able to get at
internship at a media house and she was not even sure she would find a job
after graduation.

But Anite was a regular discussant at an Ekimeeza, an open-air public
forum unique to Kampala. She would listen and participate in the public
debates building her skills on the art of public speaking as she prepared
for a career in journalism. Then one day, Anite was offered a job.

"This is because my current boss heard me speak on air and built
trust in me," she says. Anite now works at the government-owned
Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) as well as the Uganda Media Centre.

Notably, without exposure from the Ekimeeza, Anite would have not got the
job she now enjoys. And also millions of Ugandans would not have had a
voice to air their views about their country.

And it seems as if they will no longer be able to do so.
A month ago all the public forums, except those broadcast by the
state-owned Star FM and UBC were indefinitely suspended by the Ugandan
government.

It is a move that has left the media, academics and even the public in
shock.

The ban

Last month government’s media regulatory body, the Uganda
Broadcasting Council, announced that it had indefinitely suspended the
broadcast of Ebimeeza (plural for Ekimeeza) until an adequate legal and
technical framework has been provided for them.

The decision came a day after a stand-off between the Ugandan government
and the largest ethnic group, the Kingdom of Buganda which culminated into
city riots that lasted two days and saw tens of people lose lives and
property worth over 250,000 dollars destroyed. It also inflicted losses on
the country’s economy worth 500,000 dollars, business analysts said.

Government also shut down four FM radio stations, accusing them of
inciting the violence. Only one radio station, the catholic Sapientia has
since been re opened after three of its presenters were dismissed.

"Ebimeeza programmes are increasingly becoming difficult to manage
due to the inability of the radio stations to manage them adequately.
Therefore, any radio heard airing them will be dealt with," Godrey
Mutabazi Chairman of the Broadcasting Council said then.

"We believe that Ebimeeza’s were not properly established, and
secondly they did not have regulations at all. The law says if one wants
to get a broadcasting licence, he/she must indicate location and
geographical area of coverage.

And the location clearly means the studios and the transmitter
sites," Mutabazi later said in an interview with IPS.

"So for someone to leave their studio and establish a location in a
bar or night club or under a tree is not within the law. It was also wrong
for a programme to come from a bar where everybody comes on the microphone
with a glass of beer in one hand. You cannot conduct a meaningful debate
in such an atmosphere," he says.

Ironically, government-owned Star FM and Uganda UBC Television still
broadcast their live Ebimeeza programmes every Saturday afternoon in a
subway pub, uninterrupted.
Little wonder, veteran journalist David Ouma Balikowa, who is also a media
consultant and a university lecturer of Mass Communication, disagrees with
Mutabazi’s justification for the closure.

"One of the important things in economic development is that you
should be able to involve the people in the process of development. And
if we believe that communication is one of the things that empower people,
then, the starting point of people’s participation in economic
development and governance is through participating in the communication
process," Balikowa says.

Ekimeeza

The first Ekimeeza started in a local pub; the Club Obliggatto, an
open-air public house on Old Port Bell Road, east of the Ugandan Capital,
Kampala. A gathering of approximately 10-20 middle-aged locals made it
routine to assemble for discussions over cold beers every Saturday
afternoon. Just like a typical African village beer party, they combined
several tables together to make one big platform that could accommodate
the numbers for a forum.

Under the confines of a huge plastic canopy, senior government officials,
legislatures, academics, sports and media personalities as well as
business people alike shared views and debated on topical political,
social and economic events and processes that had made the week. As the
numbers grew, so did the tables.

Then one day, members of the club decided to call their forum
‘Ekimeeza’, a local word for ‘the big table’. That
was nearly two decades ago.

The concept has gone on to become quite popular and culminated in several
radio stations airing live broadcasts of the forum and also allowing
phone-ins for those who could not attend. It has made Ekimeeza one of
Uganda’s most popular public forums.

The concept of Ebimeeza as a medium of communication has since been
acknowledged as unique to Uganda, a country with over 100 radio stations,
one of the highest numbers in Africa.

"(The) Ekimeeza is a unique innovation as far as broadcasting in
Uganda is concerned; where people and communities are allowed to discuss
issues of national importance through open forums on air," says
Balikowa.

"The Ekimeeza concept should be researched into; on how it can be
improved and institutionised in broadcasting, not only in Africa but the
rest of the world especially in communities," he tells IPS in an
interview.

Setting the agenda
Meanwhile, regular discussants of the forum expressed shock over the
indefinite suspension.

"The suspension (of Ekimeeza) came to us as a shock because we have
never had any complaint from government that our forum was reporting
malicious propaganda," James Wasula, Chairman and founder member of
the Ekimeeza, told IPS in an interview.

"These discussions were very healthy because people freely expressed
their views and minds. The issues discussed were very important. To a
certain extent, they shaped the political destiny of this country because
we had people from the government as well as opposition parties – people
with divergent views," Wasula says.

He also illustrates that the forum was beneficial for national
development.
"I can confidently say that we influenced a lot of decisions. There
were a number of issues government had come up with; issues they wanted to
put forward as policies, as laws. But when we debated them in our forum
and exposed the shortfalls, in most cases, government withdrew or refined
them or completely scrapped them," he says.

Moreover, the forum did not only discuss political issues, but also social
aspects like football and health. For instance in 2000, Wasula says, it
successfully hosted sex workers to one of the forums.

"And we had a positive response. Some of the sex workers were
reckless with their lives and we could not stop them. But we invited them
and they participated in these discussions. At least we told them the
dangers of HIV/AIDS and they changed their behaviour to a certain extent.

"There was also a change in football administration, structures and
even their Constitution was reviewed," he says.

People missing out…

Regular discussants now hope that government can lift the suspension soon.
"It’s (the ban) like being in a prison. This forum was given to
us by the private sector (media) to enjoy ourselves, to assemble and
associate and peacefully express our views," says Charles Rwomushana,
a lawyer and political actor who has actively participated in the forums
since 1993. He also once served as Head of Intelligence and Security in
the office of the President.

"We are also missing that social interaction. People were changing
views and positions, both government and opposition as well as the neutral
ones because after discussions on air, we would sit back and analyse each
others contributions, criticisms and defences and I thought that was very
good," adds Wasula.

…but state looses more
However, Wasula argues, these forums were even more beneficial to
government.
"These forums would point out the weaknesses of government and their
programmes and since these were informal discussions, government could
borrow a leaf from what had been discussed. I really think the government
is missing out a lot," he says.

"I participated on two fronts," says Rwomushana.
"I would listen and follow up public opinion while doing my
intelligence work. But later on, I also became an active
participant."

"I was monitoring the Ebimeeza because they would help in capturing
public mood and opinion. Here, you get the feelings of the population as
freely expressed, and as a politician, come in and influence public
opinion.

"There is monitoring public opinion, but there is also influencing it
by being an active participant," Rwomushana says.

Illegal ban

Rights activists are now challenging the banning of Ekimeeza which they
say is illegal.

"I do not know where the government gets the basis for banning it
because there is no law that really prohibits Ebimeeza. So it appears that
the banning is just an extra-judicial move by the State.
"Ordinarily before you ban channels like Ebimeeza, it has to be
through court action which they (government) have not done. How do you
close radio stations without even going to court?" Balikowa asks.

Censorship </b>