AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2010 Executive Summary Uganda’s 1995 constitution contains one of the best provisions on freedom of expression in Africa, guaranteeing “every person … the right to freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media”. This promise, however, has not been fulfilled. Since 2007, the year of the first African Media Barometer report on Uganda, the right to freedom of expression in the country has come under further pressure and the year 2010 is seen as a watershed in the history of media freedom in the country. In the run-up to elections in 2011, even more threats to this right are likely and expected. The offices of the Resident District Commissioners have set up units to check on media with some of them registering personal details of journalists without their knowledge. They monitor political talk shows on private radio stations and file reports. Police have established a Media Offences Department. At the time of the panel meeting, 15 journalists were facing criminal charges, among them for sedition, incitement of violence, promoting sectarianism, and criminal defamation. During riots in September 2009 the government, through the broadcasting regulator, closed down four radio stations for allegedly inciting violence, promoting sectarianism, campaigning against the government, and abusing the President. At the same time several journalists were barred from broadcasting, with some of them not having returned to their jobs months after the incident, and popular outof-studio weekend discussions broadcast live on various FM stations were banned. All these measures have sent a chilling effect through journalistic circles and the general public at large. On radio talk shows, very few journalists still host guests perceived to be critical of the government. There is self-censorship. Fear is present in all sections of society. People simply do not know what might happen when they speak freely. The fear is heightened because of proposed legislation, which would allow the government to intercept and monitor phones, email, letters and other communications. The government is also planning to amend The Press and Journalist Act 2000 to enable the statutory Media Council to license newspapers annually and to revoke a licence if licensing conditions have been breached. The proposed amendments if passed into law would give the Media Council powers to determine, for example, what amounts to “material that is prejudicial to national security, stability and unity”. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2010 7