The minister of information, communications technology (ICT) and national guidance Frank Tumwebaze says government has given Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) total editorial independence in a bid to revamp the national broadcaster and return it to the pinnacle of media excellence.
“We have given UBC editorial independence so if the opposition wants to come to UBC, let them come,” he said. “You [go ahead and] host Kizza Besigye as long as you also host me to demolish his lies.”
Tumwebaze, however, advised UBC to look beyond political programming.
“Programming is not all about politics,” he said, adding that UBC should look at enterprising programs because people at the grassroots don’t want [political] fights, they want development.”
Opposition figures, particularly former Forum for Democratic Change’s presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has complained of unfair coverage at UBC. They have often accused UBC of aligning its broadcasting to the ruling party and to President Yoweri Museveni.
Tumwebaze said government has committed Shs 20bn to UBC as seed capital. According to the press release, the money will be used to buy UBC new equipment, pay for satellite, repair facilities, improving the staff’s working conditions among others.
“When I came to this [ICT] ministry my top priority was to revamp UBC,” he said. “UBC needs to tell the true story of Uganda. Many people are obsessed with bad stories. They think that telling the success story of Uganda is doing President Museveni a favour; no, it’s doing yourself a favour, doing your country a favour. The private media will not tell the success story of Uganda because that is not what brings them money but UBC can afford to do that since it’s facilitated by the public funds. Telling Uganda’s success story attracts investors.”
Acting board chairperson Simon Kaheru said UBC staff were now “re-energised by the realisation that the government is going to support the efforts to create positive change at UBC”.
This week, a UBC review committee submitted a damning report showing how the state-owned television and radio ‘has been mismanaged, chronically- underfunded, and not treated like a public institution of strategic value.’
The secretary to the committee, Andrew Kibaya, said they had found a glaring lack of clarity within government or the corporation itself on the role and place of UBC.
“Many continue to look at it at best as a state or government broadcaster and at worst as a ruling party mouthpiece,” lawyer Kibaya said. “The character of the public broadcaster envisaged in the Broadcasting Policy of 2006 is not fully embraced by the legislation and operations of UBC.”
The UBC review committee was appointed by Tumwebaze in August 2016 to study “the current situation of UBC with a view to unearthing the root cause of its shortcomings and reviewing the structure, products and processes to come up with recommendations that will enable UBC to realise its maximum potential.”
This followed a series of management and financial problems that crippled activities at UBC, including failure to pay staff salaries and benefits.
The review was chaired by the executive director of the African Centre for Media Excellence, Dr Peter Mwesige. Its three-month inquiry gathered and analysed views and evidence from the government, UBC, regulators, industry, political parties, civil society, and the general public.