Do not deny information to media - UHRC

The media and public should not be denied information to which they are legally entitled, the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Miriam Wangadya, has said.

Wangadya condemned government officials who hide under the oath of secrecy to deny the public and media information, saying this was not proper.

She said: “Sometimes public officials unduly hide behind the Oath of Secrecy Act to deny the media and the public information, which is necessary for them to make decisions.”

She added that people hold offices in public trust, urging that citizens are entitled to flash a touch in what they do to guide whether they are serving the public well or not.

Wangadya made the call while officiating at the commemoration of the International Day for Universal Access to Information at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) Makerere University Kampala.

She noted that transparency and accountability require that the media gets access to what the public officials are doing in their offices and share it with the public.

Country Representative Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Robert Kotchani said that lack of information to the public hampers the realization of sustainable development in Africa.

Kotchani, however, said that access to information is a cornerstone of Human Rights and in any democratic society. 

“If you do not have access to information, there is a lot you miss.”

He said it was difficult to control the government, monitor what parliament is doing, monitor democratic institutions, and what other wings of government are doing without access to information.

“Without the free exchange of information, people cannot be fully aware of what is going on around them and so they cannot meaningfully participate in their communities,” Kotchani said.

The Senior Programme Officer Twaweza, Marie Nanyanzi, said data collected from 1,500 respondents across Uganda from October to December 2020, indicated that 77% of the respondents said the media should constantly report on government mistakes and corruption.

Nanyanzi said radio continues to dominate as the source of information with 72% of the respondents, saying they use radio as their main source of information, followed distantly by television (TV) at 16%.

She noted that citizens have more trust in what they hear on the radio than in any other source of information.

“When it comes to trust, six out of 10 Ugandans (61%) trust what they hear on the radio as do 45% trust what they see on TV. These levels of trust are consistent over time,” she said.

However, there is declining trust in what is shared at public meetings (58% to 37%), from friends and family (28% to 22) and on social media (10% to 4%).

Nanyanzi said the report also indicated that attendance and participation at community levels declined from 70% in 2017 to 40% in 2021, with more men attending meetings than women.