The Access to Information Act, ten years in the making and finally promulgated in 2005, is still not being implemented because there seems to be no political will to do so. The government is yet to issue regulations to define which information can and cannot be released to the public. There have been a few positive developments since the last media barometer report as well: the number of media outlets is growing, with more TV and radio stations being licensed and new print media on the market. Internet is increasingly more available with the estimated number of users standing at 2.8 million (9 per cent of the population) in 2009 compared to an estimated 1 million users in 2007. The government is seriously committed to implementing a programme that would reduce the percentage of Ugandans underserved by basic information and communications technologies. The Uganda Communications Commission has set up a number of tele-centres around the country. A point of growing concern is that the Vision Group seems to be building up a powerful media conglomerate, adding local radio stations and a TV company to its newspapers. The Vision Group is still controlled by the government: although 47 per cent of previously state-owned shares were sold to private investors, the state still holds 53 per cent. In addition to the state-owned Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, it thus exercises power over one of the two major dailies, several regional newspapers, five radio stations, and one television station. The Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), a public broadcaster in name only, is firmly under government control: the minister responsible for information appoints the board of directors and the corporation is still locked in the structures and mindsets of the old state broadcaster, with the minister interfering directly. The same goes for the broadcasting regulator, the Broadcasting Council, which appears to be acting arbitrarily or even, some allege, on the instructions of the government, as evidenced during the closure of radio stations in September 2009. A self-regulatory body for the media, the Independent Media Council of Uganda, has developed a Journalism Code of Ethics and was finally launched in December 2008. The Council is supposed to deal with complaints from the public but so far none has been received – obviously due to a lack of public awareness. Many media do not live up to standards of accuracy and fairness, especially in radio journalism, as there are hardly any professional journalists working in the field. Self-censorship and corruption in newsrooms are common. Media owners – apart from the state – are described as “the biggest obstacle to media freedom in Uganda”. Interventions in newsrooms occur regularly, especially at radio stations. In the aftermath of the September 2009 riots, owners of radio stations are said to have been “conspiring” with the state on their future and no media owner stood up to the threats against media freedom. 8 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2010