Ugandan president requests positive media coverage of CHOGM

By Charles Odongtho

Two years of preparations and discussions of whether or not Uganda as a country will be able to host the biggest event so far in its history, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the event is finally here.

The city is gripped with the CHOGM fever. Heavy security, sirens of police escort vehicles receiving delegates from outside, newly patched-up roads, flags hanging on trees and roadside poles, and so on, and the city is ready to host the biggest event ever in Uganda’s history. Another event of such a magnitude was the OAU meeting that was hosted by President Amin, the late Ugandan dictator in the 1970s.

Back then the media was not as developed as it is today and the civil society was almost dead. In contrast, today, the two are very active. The media in particular has grown in leaps and bounds and has curved itself as a strong critical voice of the excesses of the Museveni government.

Museveni himself realises the power the media wields in his country and will not hesitate to call in a talk-show or go to a studio to air out his views.

It is along this thinking that President Yoweri Museveni came out during a press conference this afternoon shortly before he opened the Commonwealth People’s Forum, to appeal to the media to support the big meeting through a positive coverage of the events. He said the biggest advantage of the event is in terms of the economic opportunities that CHOGM will bring to Uganda.

But even as he appealed to journalists, both international and the local media here for a positive coverage of the event, the journalists seemed a lot more concerned about the inconvenience of road closures and diversion of traffic flow within the Kampala city centre. They asked Museveni whether the big meeting means any relevance to the ordinary Ugandan who will be inconvenienced by the heavy security in the centre of town, being sent away from the roadside kiosks and booths where they have been doing their petty businesses for years, and some arrested by police for looking suspicious especially at night, and so on and so forth.

The President said he would cross-check to see if there were some people who are being arrested innocently.

But he defended measures taken by security during the meeting. Museveni, who will for the next two years be chairman of the meeting, said it is okay for some roads and streets to be closed and diverted to avoid inconveniencing the visitors and schoolchildren. He said he was in agreement with the two days of public holiday announced for 22 and 23 November.

Looking relaxed, the President said that “up to 10,000 visitors will come and spend their money in Uganda during the big meeting. If each of the 10,000 can spend even 1,000 dollars, then we shall get a lot of money as a country”.

He added, “A country is like a body. When the mouth takes tea, the good effect is felt by the entire body, including the legs and the back and yet the back and the legs may not even get involved or even know that the mouth is taking tea.” Journalists laughed.

The message: that even if we, as journalists, criticize government for spending huge amounts of money on the event, the revenue that direct beneficiaries are getting will trickle down indirectly to benefit all Ugandans. He said that the holding of the meeting is just a practice for doing bigger things in the future.

On democracy, good governance, the rule of law and human rights, Museveni said that these are issues that the country has already handled. He talked more about the need to do trade with the delegates from different countries and their people.

He dodged discussing at length questions about the Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharaf, who will not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala. Museveni, himself an army-general like Musharaf, though now retired, said that the Pakistani leader had been asked to “correct certain things” which he hasn’t.

But it is left to be seen how Museveni with his colleagues in the ‘Commonwealth Club’ will discuss the critical issues of good governance, democracy, the rule of law and how he can practice a common value and respect for human rights like his colleagues in the club do. We wait to see that by Friday and in the days following.

Museveni told the journalists that the emphasis of his government is power and energy. He said the country needs cheap and more efficient electricity and rail transport to develop fast.

Without mentioning anybody, he said that “hecklers” should stop criticizing government plans.

The opposition is worried and has already expressed fears that after the meeting, Museveni will revert back to a militant way of handling descent and opposition. As CHOGM gets underway with all the excitement, let’s wait to see how the ordinary Ugandan benefits from the meeting.