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Ekimeeza

By Sam Mundua Posted Apr 1 2005

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It is a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the time is 2:59 p.m. East African Standard Time at Uganda Radio One FM. A young man rises up, puts his finger across his lips, turns to face the murmuring crowd and whispers, “Sh…sh…sh…we are on air.” Immediately, a deafening silence fills the area, and the chairman chips in, “Welcome to Ekimeeza, otherwise known as the People’s Parliament at Plot 18, Old Portbell Road, Kampala.”

Another hot and abusive discussion is underway. Authorities will closely follow the discussion at the Ekimeeza, and the government has not taken what they call “abusive language” on the FM stations lightly, according to those who participate.

The Ekimeeza can loosely be translated as a round table around which people gather to discuss what affects them socially, politically and economically. In addition to the talk shows and phone-in programs at Ugandan FM radio stations, the Ekimeeza has emerged to enlarge the popular forum. The setting is as informal as the members themselves; ordinary people, professionals, members of parliament and government officials all take part in the Ekimeeza.

“This is where people come to freely discuss civic matters without formalities, although what they say may not necessarily be right,” says James Wasula, one of the founding members of the Ekimeeza and an alternate chairman.

Although the Ekimeeza is supposed to act as a forum for intellectual debate, some members turn it into a forum for unqualified emotional outbursts. Since its inception, the Ekimeeza has never left some of the controversial issues in Uganda untouched.

One Ekimeeza contributor once compared President Yoweri Museveni to Saddam Hussein and wondered why Americans could dig Saddam Hussein out of a pit and live out another dictator in Uganda. It is likely that as the political temperature rises in Uganda mainly due to the third-term bid for President Museveni and the transition from a one-party state (movement) to a multi-party system the language of Ugandans too will get tougher.

This “abusive language” is sometimes aimed against President Museveni. In November, Information Minister Dr. Nsaba Buturo threatened to close down FM stations that put people on air who are abusive of President Museveni by withdrawing the stations’ broadcasting licenses. “The FM stations are undermining our national values of respect and common decency,” Buturo says.

Buturo has raised a fear in Ugandans that the government may be using the “abusive language” issue as a scapegoat to cut back citizens’ rights to express themselves freely.

Freedom of speech is the basis under which the Ekimeeza began in February 2001, during the presidential and parliamentary elections. “We used to gather here at the club (Obligato) to informally discuss politics and evaluate candidates,” Wasula recalls. “Many people picked interest and joined us. Then the numbers began to grow.”

As the number of members grew, so did the need to make it orderly. “When the general manager of Radio One got to learn about the Ekimeeza, she approached us and requested it to be aired,” Wasula says. “This brought in more popularity for the program.”

Wasula says contributors present a replica of what they talk about in their daily lives at the Ekimeeza. The Ekimeeza only gives them the opportunity to be heard in public.

The Ekimeeza creates an attempt for the audience to express their opinions unedited, unlike contributions made in a studio where there are hosts and callers. “In Ekimeeza, the contributors are very frank, passionate and very spontaneous,” says Shaka Ssali, Ugandan-born Straight Talk Africa host and senior editor at The Voice Of America. He says that it is the way to go. “We have to come to a point and participate in a dialogue to discuss what affects us to make a way forward.”

Two other FM stations, Radio Simba and Central Broadcasting Service, have since joined the queue, broadcasting in vernacular in a bid to cater to those who do not understand English.

The freedom enjoyed by Ugandans to listen and make contributions on FM stations has paved the way for the people to freely express and publicize their opinions in the democratization process.

Since gaining control of the country in 1986, President Museveni has helped establish a democracy in Uganda, as well as freedom of speech. In 1993, he liberalized the airwaves, causing a number of privately owned FM radio stations to be established. President Museveni reinforced freedom of speech in the 1995 Ugandan constitution, which gives every person the right to freedom of speech and expression, including the freedom of press and other media.

According to Ogen Kevin Aliro, the editor in chief of Uganda’s The Weekly Observer, the government faces internal criticism and external pressure for President Museveni to retire in 2006 (when his last constitutional term expires) and has become increasingly paranoid and intolerant of the media and opposition.

“Unfortunately, this is a very thin and dangerous line to walk as the phrase ‘abusing the president’ could very easily and wildly be interpreted to serve the dirty motives of those wielding state power,” writes Aliro. “The warped interpretation may be such that any criticism of the president or the presidency – no matter how legitimate – could be deliberately misrepresented as ‘abusing the president.’”

Aliro says the government must allow the media council and journalist organizations to deal internally with issues of public morality, common decency (which include respect for the president) and good taste.

Joe Oloka Onyango, a law academic at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, says that any attempt by President Museveni and the government to interfere with media freedoms and freedom of expression relate to the wider issue of the status of democratic freedom as a whole.

“If the venues for the expression of ideas are closed off, then the extent to which a government can be said to be respecting the overall ideals of democracy are necessarily limited,” says Onyango in an article published by Uganda Journalism Review.

Onyango contends that ultimately when speaking of free expression, people are referring to the much wider issue of democratic freedom. Limitations on that form of expression mean that there is an overall limitation on the extent to which freedom, broadly understood, can be realized. “...the suppression of free expression in particular was linked to the overall curtailment of general democratic freedoms.”

Comparing the Ekimeeza to a town hall media broadcast, Ssali says the Ekimeeza is a step in the right direction in the democratization process of the country.

“Democracy is neither an event nor an incident but a process,” Ssali says. “We all have equal shares in Uganda. Ugandans have to ‘step on the plate’ and reject being willing victims, and they have to believe in themselves. You have to stand out although not all that you talk about comes to what you wish.”