By George Murumba

5^th Sept 2011:

Were scribes bribed to hit him hard?

Leaked US diplomatic cables released recently by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks have revealed how the over-energetic and NRM leaning CEO of the Vision Group Mr. Robert Kabushenga virtually “…took over the newsroom” and “forced” the Editor-in-Chief of The New Vision newspaper to “…keep President Museveni in the headlines and to run pro-government stories”.

The leaked cables also revealed that the then Editor-in-Chief of The New Vision newspaper Els De Temmerman was in constant conflict with the CEO Robert Kabushenga, forcing President Museveni to intervene twice to resolve the conflict between the top two bosses and the government owned newspaper.

When she finally resigned, Els De Temmerman privately expressed concern over “…the lack of journalistic integrity in the Ugandan press” adding that “self-regulation and formal journalism training are desperately needed”. At the time of her resignation however, she had told the Daily Monitor newspaper that she “…left because of a lack of editorial independence”, something that she says she had been promised when she accepted the position.

In his reaction to her resignation allegations, Kabushenga had shot back and claimed that the “…editorial independence of our product is not dependant on one individual” before adding that “…The New Vision affords sufficient autonomy for professionals to do their work”.

How CEO Kabushenga took over newsroom

In the leaked diplomatic cables, De Temmerman said she tried very hard to resist Kabushenga’s attempts to turn The New Vision into a government propaganda paper.  “…I pushed back, trying to explain to him that it would not serve the government’s interests to turn The New Vision into a propaganda paper”, De Temmerman said.

She also lamented Kabushenga’s lack of journalistic credentials and said that he had no contractual right to get involved in newsroom business.  Kabushenga replaced respected journalist William Pike at The New Vision in December 2006.  His appointment was however controversial because of his previous role as the government’s media spokesman.

The fear then, the US government cables note, “…was that Kabushenga would undermine the New Vision’s independence”. De Temmerman also told the US embassy diplomat that President Museveni had told her that he was satisfied with the improved quality of The New Vision and therefore the complaints about lack of government coverage could only have come from one Museveni’s overzealous aides, Kabushenga being a strong possibility.

Ugandan press stories are pure fabrication

De Temmerman also expressed deep concern over the state of Ugandan journalism.  For example, she said The Red Pepper is 90 percent fabricated.  “…What is happening in the Ugandan press is pure exploitation and fabrication.  Journalists are often paid to write stories aimed at destroying political rivals or advancing private economic agendas”, she said.

For the evidence, she pointed to the coverage of the National Social Security Fund’s questionable purchase of [Temangalo] land belonging to the then Security Minister Amama Mbabazi.  She revealed that a “…considerable amount of money” exchanged hands as Parliament’s probe moved forward and that a number of her The New Vision Journalists had been offered bribes to “…hit Mbabazi hard”.

The US embassy in Kampala appeared to agree with De Temmerman’s assessment.  “…We share her concerns about the lack of professionalism and quality of reporting. END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.