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BY RICHARD DRASIMAKU
ARUA: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2025
Latif Zaake, the West Nile Regional Police Commander says activism puts journalists in harm’s way because it turns them into opponents of the state especially during the period of tense election campaigns.
“Help us by doing checks and balance but the question is how do you strike a middle ground to remain professional,” he said.
He decried the alleged infiltration and influence peddling by foreign actors through the media and the civil society saying it destabilizes the country.
The RPC called on the media, the Civil society and the Lawyers to dispense their public service with a patriotic mindset that prioritizes the national interest of Uganda.
“You have heard President Yoweri Museveni talk about strategic security and the survival of the African people. Please take time to understand that concept, so that those people do not come back to recolonize us” said RPC Zaake.
He was addressing a gathering of journalists and lawyers at the White Castle hotel in Arua on Saturday.
Organized with funding from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the interface aimed at fostering collaboration between the journalists and the lawyers in order to protect journalists in the face of increasing attacks during the campaigns.
Zaake insisted that journalists are not the enemy of the police. However, he claimed that if a person has not been a victim of the work of the media, it may be hard for such a person to understand why limitations are slapped on media freedom.
“National sovereignty can be put at stake when the media and civil society are infiltrated. This is a serious concern when the interests they promote are not the interests of Uganda. Be alert,” he urged.
Reflecting on the post-independence history of Uganda, Zaake said the country has had a bad political experience that nobody including the journalists would wish to go back to that era.
He called for collaboration between the journalists and the police during the election period saying that the people served by both entities are the same people.
“Let us work for our country. Every law or legal regulation has to be enforced by the police. So we are in this thing together,” asserted Zaake.
Gore Goffin, the resident district commissioner of Arua, advised journalists to be conscious of the impact of their reporting.
He said the government welcomes positive criticism but faulted the media for sometimes publishing and broadcasting incomplete news.
“A matter has just started, you rush and break the news. But then you do not come back to report on how the matter ended. In that case you leave the public to guess the end result,” he argued.
In a key note address, consul Rasul Kashoke, the head of the Legal Aid Project in Arua, said that the profession of journalism and lawyers need courage because there is a lot of intimidation.
“We need to assist each other and protect the journalists as lawyers who know the law. The probono (free legal) service is for every disadvantaged person including lawyers,” he added.
Kashoke gave the example of a lawyer who may be arrested and incarcerated beyond 48 hours without being charged.
He said in that situation that lawyer is vulnerable and needs both probono service and the assistance from journalists.
He called on the fraternity of lawyers under the Uganda Law Society to act as bulwark or protectors of the law by challenging articles and provisions that contradict the constitution and infringe on media freedoms.
“An attack on one of the professions because of interlinking with the citizens affects us all,” reasoned consul Kashoke.
