The European Union delegation in Uganda has urged government entities and security forces to respect the diversity of media and difference of opinion, in order to avoid harassing of journalists.
This is contained in a joint statement delivered by the Danish Ambassador to Uganda, Mogens Pedersen, at the 2017 World Press Freedom Day National Conference organised by the African Centre for Media Excellence on Wednesday.
The Conference was held under the theme “Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies.”
Ambassador Mogens said that EU member states are strongly concerned about numerous attacks and intimidation against journalists and opinion makers in the country.
Mogens called upon the relevant authorities to effectively investigate such cases and prosecute the perpetrators.
Ambassador Mogens also cited the World Press Freedom report launched last week ranking Uganda number 112 out of 180 countries.
He attributed Uganda’s drop from position 102 the previous year, to intimidation and violence against journalists, closure of media outlets, internet cuts, and physical attacks on reporters among others.
However, Information and ICT Minister Frank Tumwebaze, says that the World Press Freedom Day should not only be used to criticise but to appreciate how far the country has come in regard to media freedom.
Tumwebaze said that a few incidents not-with-standing, government is committed to doing everything possible to defend the freedom of journalists.
He, however, defended government’s recent efforts to streamline the use of social media, saying that it creates a threat due to a complete lack of gate-keeping.
