Asking for It

Many governments chronically complain about press criticism, but Uganda has the opposite problem. No newspaper will attack the regime of General Idi ("Big Daddy") Amin Dada--and Big Daddy is worried about it. Tamed to a whisper for eight years under President Apolo Milton Obote, the papers have still not made a critical peep since his ouster seven months ago.

Attorney General P.J. Nkambo-Mugerwa went on television last week to declare that Uganda's press is "like a dog that has been chained too long. It does not know what to do now that it is free." The newspapers, he complained, are "playing the role of court jester. Constantly singing a government's praises is the surest way of toppling it." Earlier he had declared: "We know we are not infallible. How can we be assisted if we never receive constructive criticism from the press?"

The press was stung to criticism all right, but of Nkambo-Mugerwa. In an angry editorial about the sword being mightier than the pen, the Uganda Argus announced boldly that it would not be bullied into "reckless criticism. A newspaper plays an ambassadorial role, only it is accredited to its own country and is charged with promoting the interests of the country." Furthermore, said the Argus, "freedom of expression is a cliche phrase."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.