President Museveni’s statement to the press on irresponsibility and irrationality of the saboteurs

The NRM was the first Government in the whole of Africa to liberalise the media – radios and television stations. In the Cabinet meeting of Thursday, 03 May, 1990, I brought a proposal to the Cabinet to license the first private radio in Uganda and, I believe, the first in Black Africa. I had been approached by the Light House Television (LTV) people. After listening to them, I thought that private broadcasting was useful.

The Cabinet was horrified. How could the Government lose monopoly over information? It would cause chaos in the country. I calmed their fears; told them that we should make laws to regulate the private media houses.

I was sure that the private media houses, having listened to the presentation of LTV, would improve quality of broadcasting and TV services. The Cabinet, eventually, agreed. That is how Uganda was the first country in Black Africa, I believe, certainly, the first in East Africa to allow private broadcasting.

There are now 140 radio stations and 20 TV stations. I am happy about all this.

I am, however, disappointed about the irresponsibility, irrationality of the use of your media houses and the propensity to allow your media houses to be used by saboteur of Uganda’s and Africa’s future.

A media house is licensed to inform, educate and entertain. It is not licensed to misinform, sabotage and annoy sections of the public without good reason.

The media houses are not supposed to be partisan but objective. You are not supposed to use your radios to propagate lies or half truths. In case somebody comes to your station alleging something, you should take the trouble to contact the other person for his side of the story: “tosalanga gwa Kawala nga tonawulira gwa Kalenzi”. However, your media houses do the exact opposite. They just broadcast and propagate stories without checking.

The irresponsibility, the irrationality, of some of the media houses and schemes of the saboteur a few days ago resulted in the death of three persons including one foreigner. Those involved will pay according to the laws of Uganda. We have been advising these people to stop demonstrations in the crowded streets of Kampala. They do not listen because their intention is to sabotage. They will now know that Uganda, under the NRM, is adequately defended by the appropriate laws and State institutions. “Whatever one sows, is what one reaps” – buli muntuyena kyasiga, kyakungula”.

Some months ago, for instance, one of the newspapers and CBS put out a story that Museveni had demanded a pay rise. I had seen the story in one of the newspapers and I heard the CBS story by accident, while at Kisozi, engaging in production, when I found my driver listening to CBS. This was a lie because ever since 1986, I have been opposed to pay rises for high level political and administrative leaders without linking it to the pay rise of the junior cadres and the revenue levels of the country. My struggle has been, actually, to raise the pay of the lower cadres (primary teachers, soldiers, health workers) and scientists. Uganda will benefit more by raising the salaries of scientists than the salaries of political leaders and administrators.

Balancing the salaries of political leaders and the lower cadres is a question of equity. Why, then, should have CBS and the newspapers told a lie about me?

Whose interests were they serving – the listeners’ or the saboteur’? It could not have been for the listeners interests or the country’s interests because these want the truth and not lies. It was for the interests of the saboteur’. Why could they not check? Why could they not ask my press adviser, the Minister in-charge of the Presidency, etc?

It is because they did not want to find out the truth.

They wanted to damage an innocent person in the eyes of the Public.

The recent story of Mabira is another example. There have been internal discussions within the Government, about the possibility of giving a part of Mabira Forest to Scoul to expand our production of sugar, having successfully rehabilitated Lugazi’s sugar production from zero level in 1986 to 55,000 tonnes now.

I salute them on behalf of the people of Uganda for contributing to the recovery of Uganda. This expansion is necessary in order to keep our sugar industry competitive within COMESA vis-à-vis the Sugar of Sudan, Swaziland, etc., as well as vis-à-vis the sugar from the outside. By producing more tonnes of sugar, you can be competitive vis-à-vis other producers.

The acreage converted to sugar production from Mabira would be compensated or, even, exceeded by developing forests in other parts of Uganda, either by planting trees or allowing the natural forests to regenerate. In 1989, out of the 32,000 hectares of Mabira, only 25,000 hectares were still covered with forest. The rest (about 7,000 hectares) had been encroached on by peasants growing subsistence crops.

We are the ones who evicted the peasants and allowed the forests to regenerate to the present level. Therefore, nobody can claim to have contributed to the recovery of Mabira more than us. It is us, the NRM, that liberated Mabira from the past regimes and restored it to its present level.

Otherwise, it had been destroyed like the other forests in other parts of the country have been destroyed. It is us that restored and upgraded the Mt. Rwenzori and Mt. Elgon forest reserves into national parks, thereby making them no-go areas – no cutting of trees at all. Let the trees die of old age.

Anyway, all this discussion is premature. At this stage, the issue is to discuss civilised, useful procedure in discussing national questions like this one. In this case, the discussion, up to now, is still within the Government departments.

When the idea came to me, I referred it, with my views, to the relevant government departments: the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Environment, etc. It has not yet come to the Cabinet where it will soon be discussed. After Cabinet, it goes to the NRM Parliamentary Caucus. After the NRM Parliamentary Caucus, it goes to Parliament. Thereafter, the issue is referred to the appropriate sectoral committees of Parliament, who would, then, make consultations with stakeholders, conduct hearings, etc. It, then, comes back to Parliament for a final decision.

All this procedure is known to people who are educated, especially leaders. Why, then, should a leader or a so-called “environmentalist” agitate the public through lies in the radios, T.Vs. or newspapers? Why demonstrate? How will demonstrators understand the details of such an important debate when they are shouting in the streets?

Why not discuss issues calmly in the right fora – e.g. Parliament? Honourables Atim and Kyanjo, etc., are all Members of Parliament. Why not wait for their opportunity there?

It seems some of these opposition leaders are not interested in the development of the country or the truth.

They are just interested in fighting the NRM, using all crooked means, so that the NRM does not succeed. They fear that If the NRM succeeds in economically and socially transforming Uganda, how will they themselves come to power?

They must, therefore, damage (kwonona,) the NRM’s image in the public and fail (kulemesa) the plans of NRM for the people.

How do they kwonona and kulemesa the NRM? By telling endless lies.

The NRM, however, is not easy to damage or to fail. Our record for the last 40 years is there for all to see. Our vision is clear and our capacity is robust and growing.

The opposition will kulimba (tell lies) and we will kulimbulula (tell the truth) as usual. The NRM is sometimes slow in kulimbulula. The Banyankore say: “Ekishuba kiguruka kare, amazima gakitangayo” – “a lie is an early riser; however, always the truth arrives first”. Nobody will stop the NRM from transforming Uganda into a modern, industrialised country.

Those who sabotaged our electricity plans partially delayed our plans; but they will never succeed again.

We shall build the power dams with or without the outsiders. We have the money and we shall get more money from the wealth we are creating.

Uganda cannot remain a backward country like the African countries have been 50 years after independence.

We have already succeeded in educating our children through UPE and now USE.

We must get jobs through building more and more factories. The environment will be protected as we have done in the past, especially, now that the NRM children have grown up to assist us in this task. Like the NRM cadres liberated the URA from corrupt pilferers, the NRM cadres will enforce the environmental law we enacted in May 1995 but which has not been enforced for reasons best known to the officials concerned.

The NRM industrialisation programme will, actually, enhance environmental protection because we shall create employment for our youth who now damage the environment through primitive agriculture; we shall earn money that will help us generate more electricity and stop the cutting of trees for charcoal; etc.

My amazement, however, is why the media houses assist the saboteur.

By assisting the saboteur, through using your facilities to propagate their lies, you are breaking the laws of Uganda. I will give examples:

1. Under The Penal Code Act, Chapter 120 of the laws of Uganda, it is prohibited to:

- publish information prejudicial to national security (section 37);

- publish seditious matter (Section 39 and 40) and;

- promote sectarianism (Section 41).

2. The Press and Journalists Act, Chapter 105, in the Professional Code of Ethics in the 4th schedule, prohibits:

- Journalists from disseminating information or allegations without establishing its correctness or truth;

- Requires journalists to separate their opinions from factual news (objectivity);

- Prohibits originating or encouraging dissemination of information designed to or which may have the effect of promoting tribal, racial or any other form of discrimination;

- Under section 6 of The Press and Journalists Act, Chapter 105, a proprietor and Editor of a mass media is under duty to ensure that what is published is not contrary to public morality and is responsibly reported within a social context;

- Section 3 requires compliance with all other laws that prohibit publication of matter that infringe on the privacy of an individual or which contains false information;

- Clause 8 of the same Code requires journalists to take necessary steps to correct any damaging report made against any individual or organisation.

3. The Electronic Media Act Chapter 104, 1st schedule prohibits broadcast of programmes that:

- are contrary to public morality;

- promote the culture of violence and ethnical prejudice among the public;

- are not free of distortions of facts;

- are likely to create public insecurity and violence;

- are not in compliance with the existing law.

In conclusion, we do not want to waste time prosecuting the owners of the media houses. However, it is also not serious to think that NRM will tolerate anybody to destroy or derail our programme. Let us respect the law and - live harmoniously.