The Electoral Commission of Uganda has today engaged members of Online Media Publishers Association ahead of 2021 general elections.
The dialogue was held at Hotel Africana in Uganda’s Capital, Kampala.
Sam Rwakoojo the Secretary, Electoral Commission lauded the Online Media for the objective coverage of the 2021 Elections roadmap.
“The purpose of this breakfast meeting is to acknowledge the invaluable contribution you have made as online media specifically and the media industry in general, towards the democratisation process in this Country as our key partners through coverage of our electoral activities/programs,” said Rwakoojo before adding that; “I wish to thank you particularly for the coverage of the launch of the strategic plan and Roadmap for the 2020/2021 General Elections on 11th December 2018.”
Rwakoojo also pledged that they will hold training sessions to enlighten journalists on how to cover elections objectively.
“One of the strategies that the Commission has employed to mobilize stakeholder support for the Roadmap activities is regular engagement with various stakeholders in the electoral process,” said Rwakoojo.
“Among these are scheduled training workshops at National and Regional levels for the media personnel so as to equip them with knowledge of the electoral process to enable improvement in the area of election reporting.
“It’s therefore necessary to have this engagement to ensure that the entire media structure is sensitised.”
He however advised Online media houses on issues of being professional when reporting.
“The media can often unintentionally (or intentionally) incite violence through unbalanced, inaccurate or inflammatory reporting. We therefore, urge you to exercise the highest level of professionalism during our electoral journey to the 2020/2021 general elections.”
OMPA president, Giles Muhame rooted for the support of Online media through trainings, workshops and advertisement.
On behalf of OMPA, Muhame officially received the 2020/2021 Election roadmap from Mr. Sam Rwakoojo, the secretary Electoral Commission.
Other Electoral Commission honchos that attended the dialogue include; Jotham Taremwa, the EC Spokesperson and Paul Bukenya, a senior Public Relations Officer at EC.