Prime
Ofwono condemns assault on journalists by security
Uganda Media Centre director, Mr Ofwono Opondo. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- 104 Cases: Police was responsible for 104 cases out of the total 174 violations against journalists recorded, according to a Press Freedom Index Report 2020 by Human Rights Network for Journalists Uganda.
- Mr Opondo asked journalists to always task the RDCs and the DPCs to tell them from where and from whom they have got those orders from above.
The director of Uganda Media Centre, Mr Ofwono Opondo, has condemned the continued attacks on journalists by security forces.
“There have been many instances that you look at and wonder if this is an action by trained professional police officers,” Mr Opondo said.
“A policeman chasing a journalist as if there is something personal or an army man chasing a journalist who is doing their work as if there is something personal between them. The journalist falls down, he is clobbered, you get his equipment, you throw it down; you break it..... It is also unlawful to assault somebody,” he added.
Mr Opondo made the remarks during a dialogue with journalists and security chiefs from Lira District in Lira City on Tuesday.
Security forces attacked journalists in the run-up to the January 14 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Others were in February admitted to hospital with serious injuries when military police assaulted them while covering National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, who was delivering his petition to United Nations Human Rights Council offices in Kololo, Kampala.
The victims included Mr Geoffrey Twesigye of NTV, Mr Irene Abalo of Daily Monitor, Ms Shamim Nabakooza of Record TV, Mr John Cliff Wamala of NTV and Mr Timothy Murungi of New Vision.
Mr Opondo also warned district leaders against denying journalists access to information.
“We have had cases of denial of giving the media information,” Mr Opondo said, warning resident district commissioners (RDCs) and the district police commanders (DPCs) against blocking leaders of Opposition political parties from appearing on local FM radio stations for talk-shows.
He said official security orders are passed through radio messages and letters.
“The RDCs and DPCs should be able to provide to journalists who have given them those instructions to block Opposition leaders from talking on radio stations and switching off radio stations,” the government spokesperson, said.
During presidential campaigns, Bobi Wine and his Forum for Democratic Change party counterpart, Mr Patrick Amuriat, were denied access to several privately owned local FM radio stations.
Mr Opondo asked journalists to always task the RDCs and the DPCs to tell them from where and from whom they have got those orders from above.
“We have heard cases of denial of giving the media information, some journalists blocked from attending council meetings, so I appeal to the district leadership and the security in your administration to allow access to information to the journalists and have these places accessible by the journalists,” he said.
During the same meeting, Mr Richard Okello Orik, the district chairman, said his administration would ensure that they work with journalists.
“The media play a very important role in the work we do in this country and we should not under rate them,” he said.
