According to the Access to Information Act, every citizen has a right of access to information and records in the possession of the State or any public body, except where the release of the information is likely to prejudice the security or sovereignty of the State or interfere with the right to the privacy of any other person.
On Wednesday as former Works Minister General Katumba Wamala communicated on social media to Ugandans about the sad attack that left his daughter Brenda Nantongo and driver Haruna Kayondo dead, he revealed information that Dorah Atwongyeire was his official spokesperson. Atwongyeire is the online editor for Next Media Services which owns NBS, Nile Post and Next Radio among others.
Ochola, early this year told a joint security press briefing that the police would continue beating journalists for their own safety. At the time, several journalists had sustained injuries from the campaign trail where they were hit with batons, rubber bullets and teargas canisters, in what appeared to be a direct attack against media practitioners.
The HRNJ-U Executive Director, Robert Ssempala noted that the statements by Ochola cannot be taken lightly given the fact that police has been the leading violator of media rights.
The journalists who had turned up to cover the Monday press conference tasked the Chief Political Commissar of the Uganda People's Defence Force Brigadier Henry Masiko to apologize for the brutality of journalists by security personnel.
