President Museveni is today expected to meet private broadcasters under their umbrella body the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) following his directive that ring-fenced public advertising cash to state-owned media outlets.
Yesterday, members of parliament learnt that the state-owned Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) owns only 11 out of the over 300 radio stations across the country.
NAB and the Uganda Editors’ Guild have since suspended a ban on coverage of government events which they had announced to protest the ‘discriminatory advertising directive’.
In their 18th July letter signed by the association Secretary-General Mr. Joseph Beyanga addressed to the Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary, Mr. Ramathan Ggoobi, broadcasters say “implementation of the said directive will not only contravene the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda but also set a precedent that goes against government’s policy that champions a private sector-led economy,”
Today’s meeting is intended to iron out the public advertisement cash row.
