Anniversary cake cutting: Nation Media Group staffers with chief guest Jim Muhwezi (centre) Uganda’s Minister for Information and National Guidance and editor-in-chief Tom Mshindi (fourth from right) at the dinner ceremony. PHOTO | MORGAN MBABAZI
Against the backdrop of growing signs of intolerance towards foreign publications by governments in the region, Uganda has promised foreign-owned media organisations the right working environment for their businesses to thrive.
Minister for Information and National Guidance Jim Muhwezi said that Nation Media Group, which owns print, broadcast and online media outlets in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, should count on the support of the country’s leadership to operate freely in the Ugandan market.
He was speaking at a dinner on June 19 held at the Gold Course Hotel, Kampala, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The EastAfrican, a regional weekly newspaper published by Nation Media Group in Nairobi.
“You can count on me and the president for freedom to publish in Uganda,” Mr Muhwezi said.
The minister’s comments come six months after circulation of The EastAfrican was stopped in Tanzania, allegedly over the newspaper’s failure to register as a business entity in the country.
The paper also briefly circulated in South Sudan but the Juba government banned all foreign-published newspapers in 2012, alleging unfair and frequently inaccurate reporting.
The EastAfrican was launched in November 1994, originally circulating in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, but with the expansion of the East African Community, extended coverage to include Rwanda and Burundi and circulated in all five countries of the bloc.
Mr Muhwezi also asked NMG to expand its holdings in Uganda by introducing a Kiswahili newspaper to boost business relations in the region and deepen integration.
Uganda currently has an array of newspapers in English and local dialects, but none in Kiswahili. Mr Muhwezi argued that having such a newspaper would help Ugandans improve their Kiswahili language skills.
He further added that the government will in exchange guarantee peace and freedom of the press so that NMG can recoup its investment. The Group had already showed leadership, he said through establishing The EastAfrican, a newspaper that provides balanced business news that is guaranteed to spur trade in the region.
“I have always been one of your million readers,” he said of The EastAfrican.
NMG editor-in-chief Tom Mshindi appreciated the success achieved by the newspaper so far.
The paper covers developments in business, politics and finance across the region. Having been named one of the best regional newspapers in sub-Saharan Africa by the International Press Institute 18 months after its launch, The EastAfrican, which first hit the streets on November 7, 1994, has enjoyed continued appreciation from both readers and media experts.
Mr Mshindi also used the opportunity to ask the government to slow down its driive for a quick digital migration, arguing that if the lessons in Kenya are anything to go by, such a move could lock out a section of viewers because of the cost of gadgets needed for digital broadcast, which in turn affects broadcasters’ revenues.
