Political Intimidation Having 'Chilling Effect' On Uganda's Media

The Ugandan government’s intimidation and harassment of journalists and civil society groups is having a “chilling effect” on political debate as the country prepares for next month’s elections, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned.

In a report released on Monday, the NGO accuses the government of President Yoweri Museveni of trying to stifle dissent by threatening radio stations and pressuring media groups to suspend journalists critical of his administration. 

The report – based on more than 170 interviews with journalists, activists, party members, government officials and witnesses – says radio journalists broadcasting in local languages are particularly vulnerable to intimidation because of their reach in rural areas where people have limited access to information.

Print journalists working in English, on the other hand, have “some relative freedom” when it comes to reporting.

“When guests or radio hosts have made statements deemed critical of the government, journalists have received phone calls or visits from government representatives, threatening them with firing or suspension, and closure of their media organisations,” said HRW. “Radio journalists told Human Rights Watch that party representatives offered them money, trips and training, in exchange for favourable coverage of the ruling party.”

One journalist told the group that they believed the government was trying to “keep the people uninformed”, adding: “Uninformed people are easy to manipulate. Cases of intimidation are prevalent … As journalists, we are forced to cover up. In the reporting you don’t hit the nail on top. You have to communicate carefully. In election season we see this very clearly.”

In December, the Uganda communications commission issued a written warning to media groups, telling them not to host the president’s former press secretary, Tamale Mirundi, who had been sacked for allegedly insulting the president and members of his family. According to HRW, the blanket ban is a violation of both guarantees of freedom of expression and rights of due process.

The report found evidence of similar attempts to clamp down on civil society organisations – particularly those involved in human rights, voter education and transparency in the oil sector. Activists told HRW that they had received visits from police, been summoned by presidential representatives and had even had public meetings shut down.

HRW said it was especially concerned by the Ugandan parliament’s recent passing of the Non-Governmental Organisations Act, which, it claims, “contains vague and ill-defined criminal offences for staff members, such as engagement ‘in any act which is prejudicial to the interests of Uganda and the dignity of the people of Uganda’”. It is calling on Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, to refuse to sign the law and instead send it back to parliament for reconsideration.

There are just over five weeks until Uganda heads to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections, which will see Museveni face his long-time ally and former strategist, Amama Mbabazi, and Uganda’s main opposition figure, Kizza Besigye. Mbabazi served as prime minister from 2011 to 2014, but was sacked by Museveni as it became clear that he harboured presidential ambitions.

He now leads the Go Forward party. Besigye, who was placed under house arrest last year after the government declared his political rallies illegal, has run against Museveni in the last three elections with the Forum for Democratic Change.

 

HRW has grave doubts over voters’ ability to get the information they need to make informed choices.