{UAH} Ugandan media silence on 'Access to Information' victory is a travesty

Edward Sekyewa should by now have been all over the newspapers. He
should have been invited to at least seven radio talk shows and three
TV talk shows. A hashtag with his name should have been trending on
Twitter in our part of the world.

None of this has happened of course. You see, Mr Sekyewa does not
feature in a sex video. He was not one of the MPs fighting for a bed
at Kyankwanzi, where the ruling party held its 2015 retreat, or asking
for a reward of Shs300 million from His Excellency Yoweri 'The Chief
Giver' Kaguta Museveni. He is not a wealthy surgeon accused of funding
sheikh killers. He is not former prime minister Amama Mbabazi's
supporter who has been stopped from addressing a rally. He is not a
public officer who has been involved in a corruption scandal. He has
not killed his parents and sibling. He has not won a national or
regional award and is not one of the stars of last year's O-Level
examinations.

Mr Sekyewa is the executive director of Hub for Investigative Media, a
fairly young local organisation that is working to promote good
governance and accountability through forcing government institutions
to release information on matters of public interest when citizens
demand it.

The indefatigable Sekyewa, who has also worked as journalist, has
filed information request after another under Uganda's Access to
Information Act, 2005. He is doing this to put to practice the Access
to Information law, which is supposed to "ensure that government
ministries, agencies, authorities, commissions and other public bodies
... (provide) information relating to these organisations and their
operations to the public".

Of the 24 requests he has filed, access has been granted in only four
cases. Six have been denied, while 16 are pending. You can see the
details and status of his requests here:

http://www.him.or.ug/information-request?keys=&field_request_status_value=All
Last year, Mr Sekyewa took the National Forestry Authority (NFA) to
court for failing or refusing to give him a decision on his 2013
request for "access to information regarding the procurement of the
necessary equipment for prohibiting, control and management of fires
in the 506 Central Forest Reserves in the country" within the
statutory 21 days after receipt of a request form.

Mr Sekyewa argued that the NFA's inaction violated the Access to
Information law and Article 41 of the Constitution, both of which
provide that "Every citizen has a right of access to information in
the possession of the State or any other organ or agency of the State
except where the release of the information is likely to prejudice the
security or sovereignty of the State or interfere with the right to
the privacy of any other person".
On February 6, Chief Magistrate Boniface Wamala at Mengo ruled in
favour of Mr Sekyewa saying the NFA was not justified to refuse the
request for access to the information sought. The court found that the
NFA "acted in blatant disregard of the law" and ordered Executive
Director Michael Mugisa to grant Mr Sekyewa "access to any and all
records or information that [he] requested in accordance with the
[law]".

As far as I know, this is a first in Uganda. Previous attempts to use
the courts to force the government to release information deemed to be
of public interest have not been successful.

This is a victory for freedom of expression/right to information
activists, for the media, and for all Ugandans.

But there is a problem. A big problem. The Ugandan media don't seem to
get this. Nearly a week after the court's ruling, no newspaper had
covered the story. By the time I put this piece together on February
12, I had not heard the story over the airwaves and I had failed to
find any reference to the case online.

This is a travesty. Mr Sekyewa, who is baffled by the silence or
indifference of his 'friends' in the media, put it this way when I
talked to him over the phone on Thursday: "I find it quite absurd, but
you can't force people to take up issues."

I think we should. Yes, force the media to take up important issues.
The media should pay as much, if not more, attention to freedom of
expression and access to information issues as they do to the theatre
of our politics and the drama and politics of sex videos.
Access to information is supposed to be a major pillar in our
governance. The framers of our Constitution provided for this right
because they believed it was one of the ways through which all
Ugandans could participate in their governance.

Now a Ugandan court has reaffirmed this right. The Sekyewa vs NFA case
and the simple yet brilliant ruling of Chief Magistrate Wamala deserve
all our attention.

Dr Mwesige is co-founder and executive director of the African Centre
for Media Excellence (ACME). mwesige@yahoo.com
This article first appeared on the ACME website.

--
"TRY TO GROW UP!" "OKWANGALI IS A DUNCE!" "TRIBALISM IS NOT A DEED,
EXCEPT OF SPEECH!" "A GENERAL WITHOUT AMBITION IS A CORPORAL" "A
GENERAL WITH TOO MUCH AMBITION IS AN INSURGENT"

MEMBER OF THE VISIONARIES CLUB, THIRD AXIS

--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.