Ruling party blocks Ugandan Catholic radios from election reporting

Published: 2006-02-24

KAMPALA, Uganda (CNS) -- A high-ranking government official who ran for re-election in northern Uganda ordered a Catholic-owned radio station to stop broadcasting election coverage during national elections Feb. 23. Two days earlier, armed police stormed a Catholic radio station and shut down a political talk show. On Feb. 23, Health Minister Mike Mukula ordered Kyoga Veritas FM to stop broadcasting election updates from around Soroti, said the station manager, Wilson Kaija. Kaija told Catholic News Service that the minister, who is part of the governing National Resistance Movement, told the station that reporters were breaking the law by broadcasting news the day of the elections. Ugandan law only calls for an end to campaigning two days prior to the election, not a blackout of news coverage. Kaija told CNS that the station stopped broadcasting for two hours, then began taking updates from its reporters.

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