Museveni to meet broadcasters over ban on govt activities

President Museveni is set to meet the leadership of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) on August 10, 2023, to discuss an amicable way on how advertising funds are distributed across both private and state-owned media.

The meeting follows NAB’s nationwide boycott of the coverage of government activities in protest of a contentious directive by President Museveni that ring-fences advertising funds to state-owned Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) and the New Vision, living out privately owned media houses.

Mr. Joseph Beyanga, NAB’s Secretary General maintains that they will not give coverage to government activities until the misunderstanding is resolved.

“The tentative date set for the meeting is August 10^th, but in the meantime it doesn’t mean that the ban is off, the ban is still on. We are saying no coverage for government activities. We are talking about communication from the cabinet, from the media center through which government communicates,” said Mr. Beyanga.

He adds that what will continue is emergency communication in the event of an outbreak and that there shall be no free airtime considerations on radio, online, and TV to any government official.

Written by Juliet Nalwooga