For four weeks, this weekly column and others appearing in the Weekend Monitor have been absent. The reason is well known.
The government, unhappy with the way Daily Monitor and its sister broadcasters – NTV, Spark TV, KFM and Ddembe FM – covered it, moved to shut them down temporarily. People who care about press freedom and free speech – and the role they play in fostering democracy – expressed serious concerns.
The government had its compelling reasons for the action it took, just like the people who were concerned. The good news is that all five outlets have resumed operations.
Discerning news consumers are now going to watch closely and see if the reporting, commentary and opinions will change.
My guess is that they will. The reason is simple. A newspaper, radio or TV station that is closed for good does absolutely nothing.
But one that has been forced into self-censorship can, at the very least, report something that people want to know. Ideally, news outlets should report freely.
Governments in many places are concerned about what they call critical or biased reporting. Many do take drastic action against the press.
But the solution to this problem, assuming it is a problem, does not have to be heavy-handedness. Nordic countries are a good place to start.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are, in my humble opinion, the best examples you can cite when talking about countries that are politically well managed. True, in developing countries, many people are wowed by the United States and the UK.
Both are favourite destinations for those wishing to emigrate, and part of the reason has to do with their official language: English.
However, neither does better than Nordic countries across a range of indexes measuring anything from happiness to corruption to human development.
Their performance is exceptional, and they have every reason to say that politics really works for ordinary people. Being a politician in these countries generally means working for the good of the country. And the results are impressive.
Mention the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI), for example, and you will find Nordic countries consistently rank among the highest.
The index covers nearly 200 countries and is a measure combining life expectancy, education and income per person into a single score ranking countries’ development.
Nordic countries have consistently dominated the top 10 slots for years. They do the same on the Corruption Perceptions Index by the Berlin-based Transparency International.
On the 2025 Index, for example, Denmark had the highest score: 89/100, followed by Finland, with 88/100. Uganda’s score has remained in the 20s for more than 10 years.
The CPI ranks 182 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0, which means a country is highly corrupt to 100, which means almost zero corruption.
Two other indexes on which Nordic countries are star performers are the World Happiness Report and World Press Freedom Index.
The five countries consistently rank at or near the top. The government says it is fighting corruption. Some believe it. It moves to investigate some key public figures over allegations of corruption and then leaves the public guessing about what will be done next, with many speculating that even if incriminating evidence is found, they will never be tried.
How then can such a government improve its score on the Corruption Perceptions Index? To catch up with Nordic countries, Uganda needs actions, not words. And more importantly, it should regard the media as a key ally.