By Khasacha Mwene
The opposition Democratic Party has appreciated the value of media men and women in constructing an economically robust and democratically justiciable society where people live and make decisions and choices based on information siphoned from the media. In a press statement on Wednesday May 5, 2021, the DP spokesperson, Mr. Okoler Opio Lo Amanu, said it is because of the indispensable role of the media in society that the party does congratulate journalists upon celebrating the World Press Freedom Day on May 4, 2021.
“One would argue that this issue has been overtaken by events. We say no, it hasn’t and it will never be considered moot simply because the sacrifices made while serving humanity in that regard is so high, as such the press men and women should be celebrated every day. Important to note is that, the media men and women can build or break society which is absolutely attributed to the cardinal role of generating and directing debates in society that was entrusted to them,” said Mr. Amanu.
However, the DP publicist was quick to remind scribes that while serving humanity, they should be cognizant and pretty careful about not losing out on their cardinal role to generate and direct debates in society. “In Uganda today, professional journalism, for instance, is under attack. A great number of media platforms both traditional and otherwise have long abdicated on this honourable duty and have resorted to only fanning debates generated by society, subsequently, this has determined the nature of questions asked during interviews. It has controlled the choices of stories to be aired and their titling, editors are equipped emotionally to serpentine the original message just to meet the needs of society. Unfortunately, that is where we are,” added Mr. Amanu. He said journalists ought to protect their noble profession by condemning any manner of conduct that is unprofessional.
Disarm members of Local Defense Units
Mr. Amamu further condemned with utmost level of contempt and impetus the decision taken by the Government to abandon (sic) guns in the hands of members of Local Defense Unit (LDU) who he alleges are without enough training to act professionally with such weapons. He cited last week’s incident where the former President of Uganda Journalists Association (UJA), now the late Mr. Robert Kagolo, was gunned down by a member of LDU, in the same week a civilian was gunned down in Kyengera, Wakiso district still by a member of LDU.
“The two incidences aforementioned form a list of many innocent Ugandans who have lost their lives at the barrel of guns carried by members of the LDU. We strongly believe that it is dangerous for members of LDU to hold guns while dealing with civilians. The training they acquired makes such a weapon not only a danger to themselves but also to the community members. Subsequently, many lives have been lost due to negligent use of guns by LDUs,” said Mr. Amanu.
He said that due to the aforementioned reasons, the Democratic Party demands that members of LDU be disarmed for the purpose and intent of saving lives of Ugandans that continue to be lost through negligence in the use of guns.
Urbanisation
Mr. Amanu also addressed the issue of urbanization, its challenges and provided likely remedies. Below Mulengera News reproduces the rest of his press statement. Urbanization requires secure land tenure and property rights. Without them urban areas cannot develop. Development and urbanization go hand in hand. Urban centers attract innovators and entrepreneurs. It is through urban areas that we become linked to the rest of the world. Urban areas make the highest contribution to GDP and the tax base.
Urban population growth is propelled by increased birthrate and rural urban migration. Other factors that push people to leave rural areas are underemployment, poor conditions for farming and conflict. Better economic prospects are also mainly found in urban areas. Uganda has decided to fast track its urbanization. This will come with serious challenges like few and poor quality housing, destruction of the environment, the risk of eviction, poor sanitization, lack of clean water and electricity infrastructure, overcrowding, food insecurity, settlements in areas that are prone to natural calamities, lack of access to health facilities and increase in vulnerability of children, women and the poor and disadvantaged people.
The biggest problem in urbanization is not how big the area of a city is, rather, it is governance failures on the administration of land and poor urban planning. We must work with the prevailing legal and institutional frameworks to ensure security of land tenure. Access to land is key in planning for current and future services. Substandard development undermines public health, slow down economic development prospects and increases the possibility of conflict.
Sprawling settlements in the city outskirts put pressure on fertile agricultural land and raises the cost of building access roads and other infrastructure. Dealing with these issues requires enormous political will, administrative savvy and the support of technical experts. One policy to increase security of tenure is to give land owners freehold titles. This will enhance the value of their property and enable them to use the property as collateral to secure credit to upgrade their property rights or establish a business as a way to combat poverty.
What is to be done?
Review the land tenure options with a view of integrating informal tenure systems into formal tenure systems. Assess how upgrading infrastructure or new regulations will be received by many through a consultative approach. Adopt a collaborative approach to ensure that people are not wrongly evicted or displaced. Low cost housing should be built for the disadvantaged people.
By the stroke of a pen, all rural land that has now become part of the new cities have gained higher commercial value, subsequently the risk of those with financial or political muscle dispossessing the weaker members of the communities has also increased. Since 1995, when the new Constitution was made and subsequently with the enactment of the Land Act in 1998, Town Councils which had power to allocate plots in urban areas in line with their urban plans had their power limited and exercised through District Land Boards and only regarding line which is vested in the State!
With the coming of the cities and declarations of various town boards, town councils and municipalities, there’s need to draw clear boundaries to the powers of the urban authorities to avoid confusion. Unfortunately, to-date, urban authorities continue to allocate land in their geographical jurisdiction, yet their power to do so ended in 1998. District Land Boards also continue to allocate land (correctly) but to people with no proper claim of ownership. The problem has however reduced because most of the urban areas have little or no land left to ‘allocate’.
Now with the declaration of new urban centers and the expansion of their boundaries, this problem is going to escalate. The urban authorities will erroneously think that they have become landlords over land which actually belong to the people. Urban authorities have the power to plan but not to allocate land. (For comments on this story, call, text or whatsapp us on 0705579994, 0779411734, 0200900416 or email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).