Ugandan journalist on sedition charges denied bond as government takes hardline stance on Press Freedom

By Andrea Bohnstedt, Global Insight Daily Analysis.

Aug 29, 2005 — Andrew Mwenda, a journalist with the Ugandan independent daily, the Monitor who had been accused of sedition was denied bond after having been summoned to the CID Headquarters on 26 August, and subsequently transferred to the Central Police Station. The Monitor’s managing director Conrad Nkutu and lawyer Alex Rezida had asked for Mwenda to be released on bond, arguing that he had always responded to police summons and never jumped bail. However, the Serious Crimes Unit refused, saying the present case was a graver offence.

Mwenda was charged with sedition following critical and provocative comments made in his KFM radio talkshow ‘Tonight with Andrew Mwenda Live’ on 10 August about the government’s role in the helicopter crash in which newly sworn-in Sudanese vice-president and former Southern rebel leader John Garang died. If found guilty, Mwenda faces up to five years in prison. KFM Radio, a sister company to the Monitor, remains closed and the Broadcasting Council has suspended its licence indefinitely.

Significance: Although Mwenda’s tone was undoubtedly provocative, he asked legitimate questions about the crash. But questions about army helicopters are just the topic that Ugandan president Yoweri K. Museveni does not appreciate having discussed in public at all – a few years ago, he had the Monitor closed down for a week when the paper reported on the the crash of two army helicopters. Although the failsafe ‘national security’ argument was trotted out then as well, the real reason for this intervention was elsewhere: Army helicopters have become one of the symbols of high-profile and costly procurement corruption in the Ugandan government and security forces, with Museveni’s half-brother Salim Saleh eventually admitting publicly to having taken a bribe in a dodgy deal in which the army vastly overpaid for barely functional helicopters. In addition, Andrew Mwenda’s inquisitive stance has long irked the president, a role that he has taken over from former Monitor chief editor Charles Onyango-Obbo. Mwenda’s treatment also sends a clear signal to the press not to be overly inquisitive or critical as Museveni works to get himself re-elected in 2006. In particular the profusion of FM radio stations, who often have a broader reach than print media, have increasingly become a significant influence in shaping public opinion, a factor of which Museveni is well aware.