Excerpts from the round table

The role of the media in bringing about peace, national security and freedom of expression was on Friday vigorously debated at a conference panel that was composed of former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, Ugandan Information minister Princess Kabakumba Masiko, former Nation Media Group editorial director Wangethi Mwangi and Tanzanian media owner and columnist Jenerali Ulimwengu. The Nation’s Mugumo Munene captured excerpts from the debate moderated by John Sibi-Okumu

QUESTION: You come from a country where you managed a civil war and brought reconciliation. Will you share how the media played a part in the reconciliation?

Chissano: When we did our revision of the constitution, we did it after 13 years of independence. It was a single-party parliament and we had to go out to the people who should speak and understand. Our struggle was a permanent discussion. We had to go to the communities and discuss with the people to know what they wanted and how they saw things. We had proposals and we listened to their reactions.

There was a lively discussion that involved 3 million citizens. We had a sense of consensus emerging. We had a conference with the summaries of what had been discussed in the communities. It’s only then that we took a text to Parliament. We left loopholes where matters would be dealt with through special laws after the first multi-party elections. For example, we discussed the citizens’ law after the multiparty system.

Is the relationship between the Press and the people of Uganda contentious?

Masiko: There are different segments of the people, depending on their interests. In the villages, it’s about survival and good sleep. When you come to the city, the rich are concerned about their businesses. In Uganda, many people appreciate the National Resistance Movement (NRM) revolution because they can sleep peacefully.

Is Uganda not creating laws that curtail press freedom?

Masiko: People are assured of sleeping peacefully. Their investments will not be destroyed. The media in Uganda are the most liberalised in Africa, or even in the world. But we have a problem and the people are complaining; how can the media be regulated? There can’t be complete press freedom without responsibility and regulation. In Uganda, there is a proposal. The principle has been passed in the Cabinet. But there is no need to worry. It will be representative and consultative. We consult everyone, including the journalists and the media owners. I want to assure everyone in the region and in the world that we shall continue respecting press freedom.

Tanzania is blessed with national parks that teem with wildlife, but there is rampant destruction of the ecosystem. Has the Press been deficient in exposing these ills?

Ulimwengu: That is possible. There is a certain level of capacity, knowhow and ability to access information. The traditional media in Tanzania are handicapped in getting correct and adequate information. But it would be unfair to say that the media in Tanzania have not done their job. Most of the noise we hear about Ngorongoro and such places, where there is despoliation of resources, comes from the Tanzanian media. I will not agree with (former Tanzania) President Mkapa that Tanzanian journalists are ill-informed and ill-educated. But it’s not always that the government responds.

When we had the post-election violence, at some stage, an order was given to cut the media out. In the interests of the nation, is it a good thing to repress the media?

Ulimwengu: For me as a media person, the people are the ordinary citizens. The Kenyan euphemism is Wanjiku. If you want it, the experience we went through in 2008, when the interests of the political class were not met, it’s the people that suffered because the total sum of votes did not meet the expectation of the political class, whichever way. When I hear His Excellency President Chissano say that ‘the people’ refers to the entire nation, I get worried. We have a class system in society; the ordinary people are different from those in the ivory tower.

Going to the question of the post-election violence; It was not simple. Journalists were drawn into the fray emotionally and intellectually. In the newsrooms, we were having battles trying to decide whether what we were doing was fuelling the fire. The suppression was at government level and at newsroom level.

The AU has signed so many agreements on press freedom. Are you walking the talk, and why is it not one of the key New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) review points?

Masiko: We’re walking the talk and we will ensure the freedoms are guaranteed. About Nepad, we have a panel on good governance and we’re ready to be reviewed.