The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | Journalist bodies and the Leader of the Opposition have condemned the brutal attacks by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) on journalists covering the Kawempe by-election nominations. On Wednesday, clashes erupted between supporters of National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Erias Luyimbaazi Nalukoola shortly after his nomination for the Kawempe North parliamentary by-election.
Security forces, including JATT operatives, used live bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds and arrested Nalukoola. In the process, journalists covering the event were violently assaulted. Top TV journalist Miracle Ibra suffered a severe eye injury after being struck by an object suspected to be a baton or tear gas canister. He has since been hospitalized at Nsambya Hospital, where he is scheduled to undergo three surgeries.
Speaking to representatives from the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA), Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ), and Opposition Leader Joel Ssenyonyi, Ibra expressed fears about losing his sight due to damage to veins in his eye. Ssenyonyi strongly condemned the actions of security operatives, particularly JATT, stating that the force is trained to handle terrorism, not elections or civilians.
HRNJ President Robert Ssempala decried the growing trend of journalists being targeted when covering opposition events. He accused security agencies of treating the media as enemies of the state, citing past cases where journalists such as Jimmy Akena and Andrew Lwanga suffered life-altering injuries at the hands of security forces.
“Journalists are being targeted once they cover events on the side of the opposition. They see them as enemies of the state; they want news to have one color. Most of ours, like Jimmy Akena, is now disabled and can’t do anything. Andrew Lwanga will never be the same. We have never known those who perpetrated that violence against them,” Ssempala stated. He urged media house owners to use their tax contributions as leverage to demand government action against repeated human rights violations targeting journalists.
Other journalists who visited Ibra pledged to follow up on the case to ensure justice for their injured colleague. In a related development, the High Court in Kampala ruled last November that the government and eight soldiers must compensate journalists assaulted while covering an event involving NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi.
Justice Boniface Wamala found that the soldiers’ actions violated the journalists’ constitutional rights, including freedom of the press, and ordered the government to cover their legal costs.
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