State Broadcaster, UBC, irrelevant and dysfuntional-UCC

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye 

The Dr Peter Mwesige Review committee on Uganda Broadcasting Corporation UBC has released its report on the company indicating that UBC is marred in debts and cannot afford to pay salaries and benefits of its staff. The company has been mismanaged, chronically underfunded and not treated like a public institution of strategic value… part of the report reads.

The report reveals that the public takes UBC as ruling party mouth piece instead of the state broadcaster. Government commitment to UBC has been half hearted with limited effort to guarantee secure predictable funding that can allow medium and long term planning.

The broadcaster itself has done little to secure independence and remain relevant in the eyes of the pubic

According to report the regulator, UCC, has discredited UBC as completely irrelevant and dysfunctional and it is just for giving people addresses

The committee recommends that UBC is very important public institution with strategic value which should not be allowed to fail, the corporation is supposed to be an autonomous institution that serves every one and accountable to the public. It should be driven by key principles and values of editorial independence, impartiality, accountability, distinctiveness, excellence diversity and universality.

UBC should be funded in a predictable manner since it is a public institution; Management and the board are encouraged to pursue innovative methods of generating extra revenue to enable deliver on its mandate

The report recommends change management process to help the board, management and staff to appreciate better and together embrace the true mandate of a public broadcaster

 The committee recommends the amendment of the UBC Act to turn UBC into a true broadcaster that is independent, serves the public interest and accountable to the public.

 The corporation should be restructured the committee recommends  

 The committee emphasizes that the report recommendations should be  looked at  holistically  otherwise it will be counterproductive to put in more public money  without addressing  legal, technical, governance, management , human Resource and programming challenges.

 Most of the recommendations according to the report require money but the right mindset, restructuring, and management is critical.

 The minister should not be left alone to decide on the future of UBC but  the cabinet, parliament, political parties, Civil Society organizations and the general public should be involved, another major recommendation.