The unfinished business

Fredskorpset’s conference on Ugandan media’s role in fighting corruption:

Av Hans Inge Corneliussen  05 noviembre 2004.

Both the government, the civil society and the media sector will have to cooperate if the fight against corruption in Uganda is to be won, according to the participants in the Fredskorpset conference on media and corruption in Kampala.
 
At the same time the more than 60 participants from both national and local media in Uganda stressed the importance of the government passing laws giving the media better access to public information. In addition, many of the participants underlined that adequate salaries and enough resources are important for journalists themselves not to be corrupted and that training of journalists in research and investigative reporting is crucial if media are to fight corruption efficiently. 
 
 
From the conference at Hotel Africana, Kampala, Uganda, 18-19th October.
 
During the opening of the two days conference, the State Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Hon Tim Lwanga, said that the common perception that the fight against corruption was a lost case, itself had to be fought, while the local organiser, Uganda Media Women Association (UMWA) underlined that media had a crucial role to play in informing the public about government and donor funded projects, so that the people themselves could demand accountability on how the funds were being
spent. 
 
This conference was the second of its kind initiated and funded by Fredskorpset in East-Africa. The first one was held in Kenya in March, and next year Fredskorpset will follow up with a similar conference for media partners and journalists in Tanzania.