In a July 25, 2007 article on the Global Journalist website, Sam Mundua, a Kampala, Uganda-based freelance journalist, writes about the challenge of incorporating the media of the various countries that recently formed the "East African Community" into this organization's efforts.

Mundua writes:

With the recent signing of a treaty, Rwanda and Burundi joined Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to form a new organization to spearhead the economic, social and political integration of the five East African countries, the East African Community, or EAC.
With a population of around 120 million and varied resources, the remodeled EAC aims to improve trade between the five countries by harmonizing tax and duty regulations. It also hopes to strengthen the export bargaining power of the region, as it tries to compete with southern African countries.

EAC advocates say the new co-operation between the five countries should aim to improve the lives of the people, both economically and politically.

Paul Musamali, an EAC advocate from Uganda, welcomes the federation and says it will act as checks and balances.

"When the five countries of the East African _region federate under one leadership, it will be difficult for a leader to turn into a dictator," Musamali says.

But the question arises, how is the media in this region prepared for the new challenge?

Media freedoms are restricted in East Africa. Colonial anti-press laws of libel and sedition still exist in the penal codes of the countries, and the governments often use these laws to harass journalists.

In addition to the retrogressive legislation, some governments in the region are in the process of enacting new regulatory media laws.

Recently, the Kenyan Minister of Information and Communication presented a controversial media bill to the parliament, which will establish a mandatory, but self-regulatory, press council known as the Media Council of Kenya.

In East Africa, media associations are often seen as partisan and easily influenced by the governments.

"Once the media is regionalized, we shall challenge these anti-media press laws with concerted effort," says Prof. F.W Jjuuko of Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

Mike Sebalu, a delegate of the East African Legislative Assembly, or EALA, from Uganda, says that under a regional arrangement of governance, the media will enjoy freedom.

"The bigger entity of the East African Community will create a regional democratic government, vibrant economy and a federal constitution under which a free media will flourish," Sebalu says. "We shall have a federal constitution which will harmonize the laws in these countries and will apply across the region."

Sebalu says EAC emphasizes private sector led economy under which a regional media is expected to grow and compete for a larger audience.

In addition to repressive media laws, Yona Kanyomozi, a former EALA delegate, says media ownership also hinders journalists operation in the region.

"Hidden restrictions will always be there and that makes freedom to be curtailed," Kanyamozi says. "Members of the media fraternity will therefore walk cautiously because of fear of ending up in trouble, so they don't come up with critical views of the state of affairs."

Kanyamozi says media organizations in the region do not have much influence and only exist to serve their own business interests.

The real enemy of the free press is sometimes the media owners themselves, Jjuuko says.

"We don't have freedom of expression in Uganda per say, but what we have is economic freedom to invest, " he says.

Media analysts say the entry of media giants such as the Kenyan-based Nation Media Group, which owns several newspapers, radio station and TV stations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania into the Eastern Africa media market is a sign that the market will most likely be monopolized by a single conglomerate in the future.

Conglomerates do not enter a market unless the market has a potential for substantial profits, analysts say, adding that adhering to media ethics is not always their priority.

EAC Secretary General Juma Mwapachu, says there is an emerging EAC media identity, whose presence has promoted the region's sociopolitical, cultural and economic way of life.

"This emerging identity is inevitable as economic players in our region respond to the logic of the market and become more regional-oriented," he says. "Recent trends in media consolidation in the partner states, marked by mergers and acquisitions, are examples of clear pointers to the transformation of the media into a powerful tool for deepening democracy, good governance as well as for bolstering development for the common good in our region."

Mwapachu singled out The East African, Nation Media Group's weekly newspaper, for its "phenomenal impact in ingraining the ethos and spirit of East Africanness."

"Its [The East African] consistent and broad coverage of news and issues relating to the East African Community partner states and the EAC itself is both insightful and of high value," he says.

Mwapachu also sees Tanzanian-based IPP Media Group with its East Africa TV and East Africa FM Radio as having transformed trans-boundary terrestrial broadcasting.

"East Africa TV in particular has hugely promoted East Africa's own uniquely indigenous music, a major cultural coup," he says. "Gone are the days when East Africans wholly embraced Congolese music as their own. Today, the youth of East Africa proudly share home-grown music, from bongo flava in Tanzania, to lugaflow in Uganda and hip-hop in Kenya. Clearly, the cultural spirit of East Africa is coming alive. Our youth now use the medium of music to engage in social change and address burning issues of the day such as HIV and AIDS, urban crime and peace building."

East African media needs to offer content that preserves the social, cultural, political and economic interests of the member states, says Jjuuko.

"Because of neocolonialism, which opens up the region to the global market, local content is threatened," Jjuuko says. "Public interest broadcasting has declined, and they are becoming more commercialistic in content. If you have local content, you will be able to counter global content, which has dominated the print and electronic media in the region."

Nakimuli_ Millicent Mirembe, public relations officer for Ugandan-based WBS TV, says the TV station is already diversifying its programs to cater to the various audiences in the region.

"We have introduced Kiswahili, [the main language in Kenya and Tanzania] _which wasn't in our bulletin," she says. "Viewers in the region can also now _access our _programs through the Internet edition.

Charles Onyango Obbo of the Nation Media Group says the regional expansion is the way forward.

"Thinking regionally allows us to operate economies of scale," he says. "Although we will be providing content specific to each nation, we will be able to pool production facilities and therefore make savings."

Click here to read Mundua's article as it appeared on the Global Journalist website.
This article was republished in its entirety on the ConcernedJournalists.org site with permission from Global Journalist.

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