Uganda: CFWIJ Is Deeply Concerned About The Ongoing Attacks On Journalists In Uganda

Location: Uganda
Date: January 4, 2021

PHOTO CREDIT: HRNJ UGANDA

Tensions are rising as the presidential election in Uganda approaches. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) has documented numerous examples of press freedom and human rights violations during the protests and campaign rallies. On December 30, two more journalists were attacked. Culton Scovia Nakamya of BBS TV and Derrick Wandera were arrested for recording the arrest of presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu in Kalangala. CFWIJ is dismayed by the growing scale of violence towards reporters in Uganda. We call upon the authorities to respect journalists’ constitutional right to inform the public about this pivotal moment in the country’s political history.

Culton Scovia Nakamya is a multimedia journalist at BBS Terefayina. On December 30, she covered the arrest of Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu and his entire campaign team in Kalangala. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known under his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan pop star and politician currently running for president. His growing popularity poses a real threat to the political future of the incumbent president Yoweri Museveni, who has been ruling the country since 1986. Journalist Culton Scovia Nakamya was reporting on the ground while Bobi Wine was blocked by the army and police from proceeding to the campaign venues in Kalangala, central Uganda. She was arrested along with Ghetto Media's Ronald Kalyango and the Daily Monitor's Derrick Wandera for recording Bobi Wine’s arrest. Additionally, Wandera’s phone was destroyed by the police. Culton Scovia Nakamya overheard accusations of “giving updates''. 

CFWIJ spoke to Culton Scovia Nakamya about the whole, deeply unsettling situation. 

“On Wednesday 30th Dec 2020, while executing my duties as a journalist at Kibanga Primary school in Kalangala District, I was arrested by five armed men. This was a joint security operation involving the army and police. I was grilled for making updates about the arrest of Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu the NUP presidential candidate. The officers said my frequent updates on social media was making their work so hard because I was inciting violence. By posting that Kyagulanyi had been arrested.. which was true,” she explained. 

Culton immediately opposed these unjustified accusations regarding “inciting violence”. “I challenged them that I am doing my work and they should do theirs as well because the truth was Kyagulanyi was arrested and didn’t have his freedom at the moment, “ she said. 

Culton was arrested and taken away from her colleagues by armed officers. However she emphasized that she wasn’t detained. Unlike her colleague Derrick Wandera who spent two hours in detention. 

The journalist anticipates even more acts of violence as the presidential campaign enters its final straight.

This despicable example of intimidation came only a few days after online journalist Ashraf Kasirye was shot in the head by security forces. He remains hospitalized for his injuries. In the last days of December, more journalists, including Ali Mivule Mazike of NTV and Daniel Lutaaya of NBS TV, were assaulted and needed medical assistance. At the beginning of November, numerous journalists, including Sumy Sadruni, were attacked, pepper-sprayed, and tear-gassed during an electoral rally in Kampala. The authorities have also tightened their grip on  foreign correspondents. In November, the CBC News team was deported despite valid press credentials and having complied with the protocols set for foreign journalists working in Uganda.

General elections will be held in Uganda on January 14, 2021, to elect both the President and Parliament. In the lead up to the elections, we have documented an exponential rise in press freedom and human rights violations against journalists, social activists and people affiliated with the opposition. The ongoing political turmoil is a manifestation of what has become the most violent campaign in Uganda's history. “Every day, we are met with heavily armed military officers. It’s always teargas and grenades, live bullets and beatings,” said Bobi Wine during one of his interviews.

The intensifying violence in Uganda prompts concerns about the transparency of the upcoming elections. While the current authoritarian regime fights for its existence, vicious attacks against the opposition and crackdowns on press freedom continue with no end in sight. CFWIJ is appalled by the widespread brutality towards journalists and human rights activists in Uganda. As the situation escalates day by day, we call upon international bodies to take a closer look at these worrying developments. The people of Uganda deserve impartial elections free of violent turmoil.

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

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