The Kawempe by-election unfolded like a familiar script for those of us who have lived in this region long enough. We know the pattern well: the NRM doesn’t win Kampala.
The last time it did was when the late Meddie Kaggwa contested a competitive election. Since then, a lot has changed, yet some things remain consistent.
We also anticipated that the NRM would deploy heavy military presence to secure the election. I have always wondered who the NRM seeks to deceive when it brings in combat-ready soldiers and their war vehicles.
Sometimes, they even fly fighter jets. Has the NRM ever paused to consider the implications of such a display of military force when it insists that Uganda is a safe country? The public justification—that the military is there to ensure the safety of Ugandans—does not hold up.
In fact, this creates an implicit argument that the police are incapable of securing an election. This was evident in the embarrassing situation where both the police and military presented separate budgets to secure the very same election.
How this discrepancy escaped the attention of a joint security meeting is beyond me. One would hope it’s still being discussed.
There are certain actions that should never be taken by well-educated individuals, but then again, I am not naïve enough to think we live in a normal Uganda. Ours is an abnormal reality. So abnormal, in fact, that the military was deployed in a sting operation aimed at targeting journalists covering the election.
You have to wonder what the military was thinking—was it not enough to beat journalists before, and now they needed to send a stronger message? But what message was that exactly? Do media professionals really need to be beaten to understand that the UPDF is a powerful force?
We have covered the violent events in Kasese and the deadly riots in Kampala. As media professionals, we even possess footage we chose not to air for moral reasons. We know how brutal that force can be, and I’m certain we don’t need further lessons through physical abuse.
Did the UPDF truly intend to target journalists and assume that life would go on as if this was a trivial matter? Who informed the UPDF that in a war with the media, anyone other than the media could win? This is a question that, unfortunately, has no answer.
Then there’s the response from Col. Chris Magezi, a newcomer in his new role. What a way to start a career where interactions with the media are inevitable.
Speaking of “clashes” with the media, where is the evidence of such clashes? We cannot have a relationship where one side assumes it understands the other side better than the other side understands itself.
Such statements reveal more about the people making them than they do about the reality of the situation. These comments suggest that journalists are not seen as professionals with their own intelligence. While we may not always be well-compensated, we are certainly not foolish.
The lowest point of all this was when a media owner visited the bedside of a young man fighting for his life. His statements there, attempting to whitewash the facts, were condescending at best and, at worst, deeply unfortunate.
I sympathize with those who work under him. Some people view others as scaffolding—temporary support used for building but never part of the building itself. Once the building is complete, the scaffolding is discarded. It’s now clear that the media is being used as scaffolding.
This explains why statements from government officials on the beatings tend to blame the media, either wholly or partially, for the violence. We used to be told we were anonymous, but now, with our clear branding, we are easily identifiable and targeted.
I won’t go into the details of how journalists were detained for a day in a room at Parliament, but this level of patronization towards professionals is unprecedented.
The media needs to come together soon. Perhaps, after the next round of beatings, we can muster the courage to run blacked-out newspaper pages, with only ads, or air sports and international news on television, as a sign of protest.