flabbergasted watching a Member of Parliament for Lwemiyaga Theodore Ssekikubo tearing up a copy of a newspaper that carried some story that he was not in favour with.
The action of an incensed Ssekikuubo was witnessed by other Members of Parliament including Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa East), Barnabas Tinkasimire (Buyaga West), Raphael Magyezi (Igara East) and Michael Mawanda (Igara West) in the full glare of the cameras.
I kept wondering to myself, if he can do this to the newspaper, what would he do to the person who delivers the message – rip him or her into pieces? What will happen if the message is aired on radio or television – will he burn down the transmission masts? If as a leader you cannot tolerate somebody’s opinion or worse still cannot stand the medium used to deliver it, imagine if you were in a position more powerful and could take more drastic action?
Newspapers are just mediums of communication and are a great public record for citizens. To desecrate it in public is to show how inconsiderate and intolerant you are and that speaks volumes of a character of a person. In fact it amounts to gagging the media and must be condemned as an attack on the media.
Newspapers like all the other media provide an accessible forum for expression for all human beings and that is why President Museveni has ensured freedom of expression through a vibrant media industry and allowed as many newspapers to thrive as possible. This not only allows reader to make informed decisions and choices about issues that affect their daily lives but also enable ordinary citizens to deliberate on the future of their country.
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