New pornography law in place to curb the vice
Feb 04, 2008
IN every Kampala suburb, town or trading centre, there is an Internet café, where users pay to browse and surf the web. The cafes are open to all people regardless of age, gender and social status.
By Alfred Byenkya
IN every Kampala suburb, town or trading centre, there is an Internet café, where users pay to browse and surf the web. The cafes are open to all people regardless of age, gender and social status.
The most popular sites that Internet users prefer are sports websites most especially those of European football clubs, dating sites, penpals, lotteries, visas, employment opportunities and those that are pornographic.
Of all these uses, surfing the Internet for pornography is considered the most dangerous in Uganda. First, consuming pornography is illegal. Second, pornography has been linked to many violent sexual crimes.
Thus, in an attempt to curb this vice, an amendment in the pornography law has been finalised, according to the minister of ethics Nsaba Buturo.
“The anti-pornography bill will soon be tabled in Parliament for approval as another strategy of tightening laws on pornography.â€
Rose Mawanda, a cafe attendant at Global World Internet Cafe in Ntinda, says she has guidelines that govern her business which every customer is supposed to read and understand before accessing the Internet.
“I have notices all over the place. ‘No surfing pornographic materials please’, ‘respect the rules and regulations’ are some of the notices. Anyone caught [breaking the rules] will lose his membership at the cafe,†she warns.
Mawanda also monitors the place the whole day since her cafe accommodates people of all ages including children most especially at the weekend and during holidays. “I have to keep on monitoring because we don’t have the technology to block the websites with immoral content,†she says.
At Makerere University undergraduate laboratory, rules are set for every student who surfs Internet. The poster reads: ‘anybody found accessing pornography will be banned from accessing this library until he leaves the institution’.
“The computer room is for academic purposes. Research, accessing books and other serious work, like typing course work and dissertations, so anybody caught accessing any content apart from that is handed over to the security personnel. There are certain websites that cannot be accessed since we blocked them,†says a library staff.
Sam Kasoma, who owns an Internet cafe in Wandegeya does not care what his clients browse on the Internet since he believes they are mature.
“Wandegeya is an environment surrounded mostly by the student community from the university and other high institutions of learning, so they are free to look for whatever they want on the Internet. I don’t care about my customers. I give them freedom to access anything, if I restrict them, they will run to other cafes,†he says. Kasoma adds that his Internet cafe is designed with modern furniture, that everyone sees, what is happening in the next shelf
The role of video halls
Video halls in Kampala suburbs and upcountry are the other avenues which have exposed young people to pornography. They are used as forms of entertainment since they are cheap.
Ismail Lubega, a video hall owner at Kalerwe Market, a Kampala suburb, says he makes sure that the films he brings do not have any immoral content since his audience is mostly children from the slums of Kavule, kyebando, Kivulu and Nsoba.
“My intention is to entertain my customers. They love watching wars, Nigerian movies, boxing and adventure movies,†he says.
Lubega insists, he does not show pornographic films. He says his cinema is more of a sports club than a movie hall, which attracts adults during major games on super sport.
Kennedy Mayanja of KZ entertainment in Kawempe says there was an organisation that brought together video owners in Uganda called Union of video owners association although it collapsed.
“With this association, all video jockeys were supposed to follow rules, on matters concerning movies and their audiences. It spelt out the codes of conduct regarding the words to be used in translation of movies from English to any other local language.â€
Mayanja says if this association was still in existence, access to pornography in Uganda, would be low.
John Bosco Sekajja,who has been in the video renting business for more than a decade says, there are rules specifying who would watch certain movies, for example, there are those that say 15, 16 and above 18 years of age.
“I cannot give a movie to someone who doesn’t fall in certain categories, it is clear on the jackets of the movies.â€
John Best Kasasa, the youth pastor at Christian life church, Bwaise is worried about parents and guardians who do not care the whereabouts of their children, as it is the major factor that makes young people relax in video halls.
We discourage them from bad behaviour and teach them how to overcome challenges of a young person.â€
Buturo says the amendment in the pornography law as stated in the penal code act is going to target video halls, Internet cafés and electronic media.
“The law will affect Internet cafes and video halls. We shall be monitoring these places to see the people violating this law,†he says.
A new film governing body, Federation of Uganda Movie Industry has also been established to maintain ethical standards of movies and copyright laws for producers and video hall owners.
IN every Kampala suburb, town or trading centre, there is an Internet café, where users pay to browse and surf the web. The cafes are open to all people regardless of age, gender and social status.
The most popular sites that Internet users prefer are sports websites most especially those of European football clubs, dating sites, penpals, lotteries, visas, employment opportunities and those that are pornographic.
Of all these uses, surfing the Internet for pornography is considered the most dangerous in Uganda. First, consuming pornography is illegal. Second, pornography has been linked to many violent sexual crimes.
Thus, in an attempt to curb this vice, an amendment in the pornography law has been finalised, according to the minister of ethics Nsaba Buturo.
“The anti-pornography bill will soon be tabled in Parliament for approval as another strategy of tightening laws on pornography.â€
Rose Mawanda, a cafe attendant at Global World Internet Cafe in Ntinda, says she has guidelines that govern her business which every customer is supposed to read and understand before accessing the Internet.
“I have notices all over the place. ‘No surfing pornographic materials please’, ‘respect the rules and regulations’ are some of the notices. Anyone caught [breaking the rules] will lose his membership at the cafe,†she warns.
Mawanda also monitors the place the whole day since her cafe accommodates people of all ages including children most especially at the weekend and during holidays. “I have to keep on monitoring because we don’t have the technology to block the websites with immoral content,†she says.
At Makerere University undergraduate laboratory, rules are set for every student who surfs Internet. The poster reads: ‘anybody found accessing pornography will be banned from accessing this library until he leaves the institution’.
“The computer room is for academic purposes. Research, accessing books and other serious work, like typing course work and dissertations, so anybody caught accessing any content apart from that is handed over to the security personnel. There are certain websites that cannot be accessed since we blocked them,†says a library staff.
Sam Kasoma, who owns an Internet cafe in Wandegeya does not care what his clients browse on the Internet since he believes they are mature.
“Wandegeya is an environment surrounded mostly by the student community from the university and other high institutions of learning, so they are free to look for whatever they want on the Internet. I don’t care about my customers. I give them freedom to access anything, if I restrict them, they will run to other cafes,†he says. Kasoma adds that his Internet cafe is designed with modern furniture, that everyone sees, what is happening in the next shelf
The role of video halls
Video halls in Kampala suburbs and upcountry are the other avenues which have exposed young people to pornography. They are used as forms of entertainment since they are cheap.
Ismail Lubega, a video hall owner at Kalerwe Market, a Kampala suburb, says he makes sure that the films he brings do not have any immoral content since his audience is mostly children from the slums of Kavule, kyebando, Kivulu and Nsoba.
“My intention is to entertain my customers. They love watching wars, Nigerian movies, boxing and adventure movies,†he says.
Lubega insists, he does not show pornographic films. He says his cinema is more of a sports club than a movie hall, which attracts adults during major games on super sport.
Kennedy Mayanja of KZ entertainment in Kawempe says there was an organisation that brought together video owners in Uganda called Union of video owners association although it collapsed.
“With this association, all video jockeys were supposed to follow rules, on matters concerning movies and their audiences. It spelt out the codes of conduct regarding the words to be used in translation of movies from English to any other local language.â€
Mayanja says if this association was still in existence, access to pornography in Uganda, would be low.
John Bosco Sekajja,who has been in the video renting business for more than a decade says, there are rules specifying who would watch certain movies, for example, there are those that say 15, 16 and above 18 years of age.
“I cannot give a movie to someone who doesn’t fall in certain categories, it is clear on the jackets of the movies.â€
John Best Kasasa, the youth pastor at Christian life church, Bwaise is worried about parents and guardians who do not care the whereabouts of their children, as it is the major factor that makes young people relax in video halls.
We discourage them from bad behaviour and teach them how to overcome challenges of a young person.â€
Buturo says the amendment in the pornography law as stated in the penal code act is going to target video halls, Internet cafés and electronic media.
“The law will affect Internet cafes and video halls. We shall be monitoring these places to see the people violating this law,†he says.
A new film governing body, Federation of Uganda Movie Industry has also been established to maintain ethical standards of movies and copyright laws for producers and video hall owners.