Uganda at 50: Is the free press in Uganda becoming a thing of the past: Monitor apologizes to Hon. Janet Museveni

FIRST READ:

The scramble for Minerals in Uganda: Karamoja leaders accuse First Family of land-grabbing

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/05/scramble-for-minerals-in-uganda.html

Assault on press freedoms in Uganda using colonial laws: First Lady Janet Museveni sues the Daily Monitor

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/06/assault-on-press-freedoms-in-uganda.html

Comments to article

MacBen • 2 days ago

I've started to doubt the competence of Daily Monitor "Truth Everyday." How do you publish an article and do two follow up articles yet the whole story was a lie? Can we trust you again??

franco • 2 days ago

Monitor seems to be heading the New Vision way. Surely, you can't convince anybody that all your reporting about the first lady and the Karamoja was completely unfounded.

 

Apology to Hon. Janet Museveni

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Apology+to+Hon++Janet+Museveni/-/688334/1515242/-/15pe4x7/-/index.html

Posted  Sunday, September 23  2012 at  16:43

On Monday, May 21, 2012 we published a story, ‘Karamoja leaders accuse First Family of land grabbing’ in which Members of Parliament from Karamoja region alleged, during a press conference at Parliament, that land in Karamoja had been illegally and fraudulently sold and leased without the consent of the customary land owners.

One of the Members of Parliament stated that it was alleged that the companies belong to members of the First Family. On Thursday, May 24, 2012 we published a follow-up story in which we named the directors of the said companies, none of whom was a member or associate of the members of the First Family.
On Sunday May 27, 2012, under the ‘Flowers and Frowns’ column, we published a comment, in the parliamentary column, which claimed that the MPs had accused the First Lady, Hon. Janet Kataha Museveni, who is also minister in-charge of Karamoja, of hiding behind front companies to grab land in the area.

This was wholly inaccurate. The MPs from the area did not accuse the First Lady during their press conference. None of them named her; neither did we find any evidence to link her to the said companies. The story published was therefore based on a flawed premise and the language that was used in reference to the First Lady is regrettable.

We would, therefore, like to fully retract the story published on Sunday May 27, 2012 and apologise to the First Lady, Hon. Janet Museveni, for the injury this has caused her and her family and to our readers for any inconvenience this might have caused them. Our newspapers remain committed to the pursuit and publication of truth every day, and to the timely clarification of mistakes when they occur.