Media groups challenge regulator’s intervention

Media groups are challenging a decision by the Ugandan Communication Commission to remove dozens of senior journalists from their news management roles over coverage of the arrest of lawmaker Bobi Wine. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, the commission last week claimed the managers, programme heads and producers contravened broadcasting standards in coverage of events involving Wine’s case. The journalists were re-assigned temporary duties for a month, but not suspended, pending the outcome of a legal challenge. A report on the News24 site notes that critics say the directive is the latest in a pattern of regulator using its powers to back President Yoweri Museveni's 33-year-old regime. ‘There are so many journalists and stations that are regularly under threat from these directives that aren't even always written,’ said Peter Mwesige, executive director of the African Centre for Media Excellence in Kampala. He said ‘they have become quite clever at leaving no tracks’. ‘You just see your licence not renewed or know your station was switched off air at a particular time,’ he added. The High Court in Kampala on Thursday heard arguments from the Uganda Journalists Association and two private lawyers who are seeking to halt their re-assignment. The reports notes that the political tempo is heating up ahead of national elections in 2021 which both Wine and Museveni are expected to contest.

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