Moroto: Journalists, district officials in ugly fight

Moroto district officials have said they will  only respond to press queries from journalists who have signed a memorandum of understanding with them.

The current stalemate is believed to have been sparked off after local journalists ran a story in which State House Anti-Corruption Unit investigated a number of district officials implicated in corruption scandals

Now before they deal with journalists, district officials want them to fulfil a number of conditions.

First, they should wear tags distributed by the district and secondly the journalists should submit their stories for approval by the district before they are published by their respective media houses.

However some journalists said that districts officials had turned hostile towards them.

“In recent months, cases of gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and child trafficking have gone unchecked as district officials refuse to comment on such stories,” said Timothy Eodu a news reporter at Akica FM.

The District Community Development Officer, Maggie Lolem insisted that they will have to review stories from journalists.

The Moroto district speaker said she will never let any of her children study journalism because of negative publicity she has encountered from the media.

The local media fraternity have threatened to institute a blackout on district activities unless common ground is reached.