Press freedom day: Journalists say proper remuneration still an elusive dream

As the world celebrates the press freedom day, journalists in Uganda have decried the  poor conditions, including poor pay that they work in.

The world press freedom day held every May,3 is dedicated to press freedom highlighting the importance of governments and people around the world upholding their commitment to press freedom.

The day also serves as a day for media workers to reflect on issues of press freedom and ethical standards.

However, speaking on Tuesday, a section of journalists said celebrating the world press freedom day serves no meaning since a number of journalists are either paid poorly or not paid at all.

“As journalists, we put our lives on the line every day to inform the public but on the other side, the bosses for some of our colleagues have not fulfilled their obligation of paying journalists. Many of our colleagues have gone years and months without pay. Much as the 2006 Employment Act requires an employer to make timely payment of remuneration to the employees, most journalists don’t get paid and some take long to be paid,” said Abubaker Lubowa, journalists from the Daily Monitor.

Lubowa noted that efforts by journalists to demand what is due to them has proved a futile attempt, with many of the employers insisting that there are no binding contracts with the foot soldiers.

“On many occasions, when these journalists speak out, they are threatening with dismissal from their places of work. Many owners of these media houses have also used security agencies to threaten some of the employees who seek redress from journalist bodies.”

Gabriel Bbuule, a journalist from the Nation Media shared similar sentiments, castigating some of the media houses for failure to honour their obligation of paying the remuneration for journalists.

“Many of those affected are from media houses that were started on a religious foundation. Many have tried to seek redress but this attempt has been futile. In fact a few years back, employees of a certain media house protested against failure by their bosses to pay what is due to them. This state of affairs ought to come to an end immediately,”Bbuule said.

Culton Scovia Nakamya, a reporter with Buganda Kingdom’s BBS Terefayina added her voice onto her colleagues’ noting that some media houses use the tactic of not paying journalists as a weapon to make them vulnerable.

“We think some of these media owners enjoy it when journalists are not paid but are vulnerable.  However, this state of affairs has seen many of our colleagues abandon the profession to join organisations and companies as public relations officers. Whereas this is not bad, it on the other side drains the journalism profession of its fine brains,”Nakamya said.

The journalists said on several occasions, the quality of output by some of their colleagues has been greatly affected by their remuneration.

“Many of our colleagues have resorted to dubious things in a bid to get some money to take care of themselves. This is simply because they are not paid by their media houses yet they continue to work,”Lubowa said.

Solution

The journalists have said they have contacted a number of law firms in a bid to force media houses that have taken long without paying remuneration for their employees to do so.

“The lawyers are soon dragging those media houses to court. Whereas some of them say the journalists have no contracts, we shall use the stories they have aired as proof that the reporters work for them .We will also continue to sue, name and shame the perpetrators,”Lubowa noted.

The members of the fourth estate also asked government to ensure special programs put in place to benefit journalists and help them improve their welfare.

These said whereas many of their colleagues would want to be part of the government programs aimed at improved the welfare of the citizens, nothing has been to ensure they are specifically looked at .

Safety

The group said as the world celebrates the world press freedom day, it is worth to note that safety of journalists is some thing worth to be improved as many face threats and intimidation by government officials and security agencies.

"The safety of journalists in Uganda is continuing to be at stake with many journalists getting subjected to intimidation and violence by security forces and politically connected persons."

Going forward, the journalists said they would engage insurance companies for fair policies for journalists who have got problems while on duty and whose equipment like cameras have been destroyed.