When a brawl broke out last week with beating of Opposition lawmakers and security personnel in the Parliament, images were beamed live into living rooms. The broadcast regulator Uganda Communications Commission said it sanctioned the ban on live coverage in the aftermath of the fight because these scenes incited violence and were not fit to be watched by children. Today the National Broadcasters’ Association UCC and the Police met to seek consensus after the regulator was accused of trying to torpedo typical journalism. The members who were largely media managers resolved that the ban be lifted. “We don’t have even the mandate to choose who to interview, who to host but if you do that, all the content must conform to the minimum broadcasting standards.” Said, Godfrey Mutabazi – Managing Director, Communications Commission.
However, conditions were set for television and radio station to continue on the live broadcast especially on the continuous age limit debate. “We expect a pre-listening equipment that can do live coverage editing so that any distressful or any hostile content or content that breaches minimum broadcasting standards can be edited out live.” The UCC boss Godfrey Mutabazi was asked whether he was considerate of the financial implications before imposing these stringent rules. “Those who cannot do that or for the time being before they acquire that solution, they can go through the existing broadcasters who are in possession of that equipment.”
There was also criticism towards the regulator that even after paying fees, UCC continued to withhold licenses of media houses as part of its blackmail strategy. Mutabazi was asked whether this didn’t violet media freedoms. “If we are not happy with your performance and we believe there is room for improvement, we can give you permission to broadcast as we monitor. Once you fail that test, we can withdraw your permission revoke and your license.” Its only time that can tell whether their words can be matched with actions if more chaotic scenes are recorded within the august house in future.
