A little over a week after deporting three journalists from Canadian public broadcaster CBC, the Ugandan government has now revoked the press credentials of all foreign journalists ahead of the presidential election on January 14. The Media Council of Uganda said that this applies to journalists who had already been registered to cover the election as well.
The country’s Media Council put out a statement saying that its intent is to “ensure the industry is well-monitored and sanitized from quacks”. While the announcement appears to target just foreign journalists, a more convoluted registration process means that domestic journalists will be affected as well.
Just last week, three CBC journalists—Margaret Evans, Lily Martin, and Jean-Francois Bisson—were arrested by immigration officers and held in detention for ten hours and then deported, despite possessing ‘official media credentials’.
Much of the brunt of Museveni’s ire has been reserved for journalists, with the country ranking 125th out of 180 countries in the world press freedom index.
In fact, in September the ruling government increased the roadblocks for content-sharing and news platforms to publish information. Bloggers, online television and radio channels, online newspapers, and broadcasters must now obtain special authorization and permits from the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) before October 5 to continue operations.
Journalists have also been physically intimidated. For instance, Ugandan freelance television journalist Moses Bwayo told RFI that he was shot in the face with a rubber bullet by the police last month. He said, “I couldn’t really process the moment what was going on. I just heard one police commander say “shoot them, kill them all!” and then a policeman shot me in my face.”
A representative from the Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ) says that journalists covering the opposition have been “teargassed or pepper-sprayed” as it is essentially considered a “crime”; their equipment has been “damaged and destroyed” as well.
Last month, the bureau chief of another international news agency was arrested and detained on charges of assaulting a police officer during the 2016 election. However, he was released after it was learned that he was in the country to visit family. Likewise, employees of American and European non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have recently been ordered to leave the country on charges of attempting to incite ‘regime change’.
Museveni’s administration alleges that foreigners have been propping up the campaigns of the opposition to force a change in leadership. In fact, Museveni has called protests by opposition parties “acts of impunity” that operate with foreign support.
Under Museveni’s governance, Uganda ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa. He emerged as a “freedom fighter and a liberator” in 1986, and has ruled the country for over three decades since; he is renowned for suppressing political dissent and opposition, and has overseen Uganda’s slow descent into a failed state. The judiciary essentially acts as an arm of his rule and the police do his bidding on the streets to clamp down on uprisings and protests.
Museveni didn’t hold elections for his first ten years in office, after which the implementation of a new constitution in October 1995 stipulated a strict two five-year term limit. This limit, of course, was removed in 2005, paving the way for him to run for re-election in February 2006. Similarly, in December 2017, the lower age requirement of 35 years and the upper age limit of 75 years were removed in anticipation of next year’s elections, allowing the National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) candidate to seek re-election once more.
Aside from his political corruption, Museveni has also failed to deliver on his economic promises. He put forth the National Development Plan, to focus on Uganda’s agriculture, tourism, and minerals industries, with a goal of becoming a lower-middle-income country by 2020 and an upper-middle income country by 2040. However, with an annual GNI per capita of just $780, Uganda has fallen well short of this goal, with the minimum GNI per capita required to be classified as a lower-middle-income country standing at between $1,036 and $4,045.
Given this situation, the stock of opposition leader Bobi Wine has risen considerably. However, Wine has already been arrested twice since announcing his candidacy last month, and the ensuing protests resulted in 54 deaths and 800 arrests at the hands of Museveni-allied security forces. In fact, Wine himself has attacked last week, and was essentially intimidated into suspending his campaign (although he resumed campaigning soon after).
Wine, for his part, has called on countries like the United States (US) to place sanctions on the Museveni regime or “stop cooperating with Uganda” until Museveni brings an end to human rights abuses in the country. The US provides Uganda with $970 million in development and security assistance on a yearly basis, which the US State Department is for the “professionalization of the military” and “supporting democratic governance through inclusive, accountable institutions”. However, given Museveni’s iron grip over the nation’s security forces and the demonstrable lack of democracy, it is clear that this money is not being put to good use.
In a growing indication of the international community’s disdain for the Museveni administration, the European Union (EU) announced that it would not be sending an election observer mission to the country for the 2021 election as Uganda had failed to “make progress on recommendations provided by previous EU electoral missions”.
The deportation of all foreign journalists now is only likely to invite further criticism of the Museveni administration and the legitimacy and credibility of both his rule and the upcoming election.
Uganda Revokes Press Credentials of All Foreign Journalists Ahead of January Election
This follows the deportation of three journalists from Canadian public broadcaster CBC last week and represents an effort to shield President Museveni’s administration from international criticism.
December 11, 2020
SOURCE: SOFTPOWER.UG