• Latest
Vaccination: Broadcasters Decline to Offer Government Free Airtime

Vaccination: Broadcasters Decline to Offer Government Free Airtime

4 years ago
Turkish Delegation to Explore Uganda’s Tourism Gems 

Turkish Delegation to Explore Uganda’s Tourism Gems 

5 hours ago
Paddy Ankunda, Karugaba Promoted to Brig General as Okello is Elevated to Lt General

Paddy Ankunda, Karugaba Promoted to Brig General as Okello is Elevated to Lt General

16 hours ago
Meron Kyomugisha Clinches Victory at 4th Lira Ladies Golf Open

Meron Kyomugisha Clinches Victory at 4th Lira Ladies Golf Open

17 hours ago
Kenya’s Chebet, Kipyegon Break 5000m and 1500m World Records in Eugene

Kenya’s Chebet, Kipyegon Break 5000m and 1500m World Records in Eugene

17 hours ago
Col Francis Aragamoi Appointed Deputy Commander of UPDF Contingent in Somalia

Col Francis Aragamoi Appointed Deputy Commander of UPDF Contingent in Somalia

18 hours ago
Johnnie Walker Celebrates Women in Leadership at She Walks One-Year Anniversary

Johnnie Walker Celebrates Women in Leadership at She Walks One-Year Anniversary

20 hours ago
SoftPower News
Monday, July 7, 2025
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women
No Result
View All Result
SoftPower News
No Result
View All Result
Home COVID-19

Vaccination: Broadcasters Decline to Offer Government Free Airtime

Electronic broadcasters have declined to offer free airtime to the government to sensitize the public on COVID-19 vaccination.

by Muhamadi Byemboijana
December 27, 2021
Vaccination: Broadcasters Decline to Offer Government Free Airtime
2
VIEWS

Electronic broadcasters have declined to offer free airtime to the government to sensitize the public on COVID-19 vaccination.

The government, through the telecommunications regulator, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) had demanded free airtime on radio and TV stations every Wednesday at 8 pm and Sunday 8:00-8.30pm “to mobilize the masses to go for COVID-19 vaccinations.”

Related Stories

Turkish Delegation to Explore Uganda’s Tourism Gems 

Paddy Ankunda, Karugaba Promoted to Brig General as Okello is Elevated to Lt General

Meron Kyomugisha Clinches Victory at 4th Lira Ladies Golf Open

Despite numerous vaccine donations and purchases in government stores and an increase in COVID-19 infections, there is relative vaccination hesitancy, with security forces especially upcountry now illegally forcing some people to vaccinate against their will.

The letter to broadcasters dated December 23 and signed by Suzan Wegoye, UCC acting executive director, the commission said it was implementing a directive recently issued by President Museveni on November 15.

But in a swift response, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) says if government wants to sensitize the population about COVID-19 vaccinations through media houses, then it has to book and pay for its officials’ appearances on radios and TV stations.

NAB says like every other industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard the media industry and having already offered government free airspace from February 2020 to sensitize the population on COVID-19, media houses cannot afford to offer any more free broadcasting space.

“As you are well aware, the broadcasters and media, in general, have been very aggressive with campaigns since February 2020. These voluntary COVID-19 sensitization campaigns were very effective. The awareness levels post the campaign was estimated to be above 95% despite the lack of or minimal financial support from government to the media industry. In the same breath that after the second wave, we foresaw the need for a deliberate campaign on mass vaccination, we took the initiative and sent a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister on the June 21st, 2021 and reminders thereafter, informing, the government about the need to reactivate the said media campaigns…Unfortunately, we did not receive any response.” reads NAB’s letter signed by Kin Kariisa chairman also the proprietor of Next Media Group.

“As a regulator, UCC is aware of the negative effects that the pandemic has had on the media industry financially, and yet broadcasters still have to pay taxes, license fees, employees’ salaries, meet operational costs and much more. Considering our efforts thus far towards the fight against COVID-19 and with millions of vaccine donations in stores, the least the government can do is budget for a deliberate sustained media campaign to ensure the jabs are administered to the population before the vaccines expire,” Kariisa added.

“Please note that we’ll continue to run the presidential COVID-19 addresses for free, with or without notice. We however cannot host these numerous talk shows for free. Media services just like fuel for ambulances, tents, vaccines and other government vehicles need to be paid for. We have bills to pay to keep the services on air and we don’t receive any government subsidies. The media has done previous work on publicizing Covid related messages but to this date, many of our members are yet to be paid.”

The response has been copied to the prime minister, ministries of Finance, ICT, Health, Presidency, radio stations, all TV stations among others.

Tags: broadcastersCovidCovid-19NABSoft PowerSoft Power NewsSoftPower NewsTop Uganda NewsUCCUgandaUganda Newsvaccination

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Recent Stories

Turkish Delegation to Explore Uganda’s Tourism Gems 

Paddy Ankunda, Karugaba Promoted to Brig General as Okello is Elevated to Lt General

Meron Kyomugisha Clinches Victory at 4th Lira Ladies Golf Open

Kenya’s Chebet, Kipyegon Break 5000m and 1500m World Records in Eugene

Col Francis Aragamoi Appointed Deputy Commander of UPDF Contingent in Somalia

Johnnie Walker Celebrates Women in Leadership at She Walks One-Year Anniversary

Stanbic Bank Ad
SoftPower News Logo

SoftPower News is a subsidiary of SoftPower Communications LLC, a Ugandan digital media group. Keep posted of the latest from Uganda and East Africa.
Plot 4B Malcolm X, Kololo
P.O Box 1497, Kampala - Uganda
Tel: +256-392-001-701
Email: info@softpower.ug

This news site is licenced by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

ADVERTISEMENT
Stanbic Remittance Ad
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Regional
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More

© SoftPower News

error: Content is protected
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Tourism & Travel
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • Regional
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • Burundi
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
  • Defence & Security
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Africa
    • Columnists
    • Education
    • Health
      • COVID-19
    • International News
    • News in Pictures
    • OpEd
    • Pearl Of Africa
    • People
    • Politics
    • Special Reports
    • Women

© SoftPower News