President Yoweri Museveni expressed concern over the impact of “irresponsible coverage on Uganda ‘s development and reputation”, as one that can endanger the prospects of the country’s economy.
Museveni made the remarks while meeting a group of government communicators at the sidelines of a 7-day retreat for Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and the members of the NRM CEC, at the Kyankwanzi National Leadership Institute.
The president condemned some media houses for distorting facts and creating harmful narratives, which he said, at times costs the country potential investment opportunities.
Museveni cited a case in 1989 when a newspaper story frustrated his efforts to lease government-owned Uganda Diary Corporation (UDC) to an investor who would process milk into a wide range of products but the foreigner almost pulled out because of a negative story.
“We needed to broaden milk production beyond liquid milk, so I sought investors to produce powdered milk, cheese, butter and other products. However, a journalist’ misleading headline ‘Uganda sells Diary Corporation for $1’ caused public outcry and discouraged the investor from proceeding”
“This man stopped investing after seeing the negative stories.” Museveni said it took me another four years to get another investor from India.
President Museveni said such irresponsible journalism can have long-term detrimental effects to the economy.
The week-long retreat of government ministries convened to conduct an introspection on service delivery under the National Resistance Movement (NRM) administration which has been in charge over the last 38 years. The organizers appreciated that corruption is currently the major bottlene incks in service delivery.
The government communicators were led by Mr Odyek Rwabwogo the chairperson of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID).