Free-to-air television stations have been off air for close to a month now amid an acute shortage of funds at the national broadcaster, the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), and its affiliate, Signet Uganda.
Signet was born in the months leading up to the June 2015 deadline that was set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for African countries to migrate from analogue to digital.
UBC was then split into two-one for content generation, which retained the name UBC, and Signet, which was tasked with the distribution of free-to-air signals. Under the arrangement, all televisions that broadcast and allow the viewing public to watch their content free of charge simply send their signal to Signet, which multiplexes it with other signals and distributes them across the country such that anyone with a television set can access television services.
The system has, however, broken down, leaving many viewers, who cannot afford to pay for pay televisions, in a blackout. It is not clear when exactly the free-to-air channels went off, but UBC has so far sent out two communications, attributing the blackout to ‘technical problems.’ ‘This is to inform the general public that we are experiencing a technical problem, which has affected broadcasting channels on the Free-to-Air platform. Our technical team is working tirelessly to restore services as soon as possible,’ read the first communication sent out on October 17.
The second communication was sent out on October 28. This particular statement alluded to the possibility that the corporation had underestimated the extent of the problem. ‘Our engineering and technical teams have been working diligently to resolve the issue and restore normal transmission. While substantial progress has been made, the process has taken longer than initially anticipated due to the complexity of the fault,’ the statement reads in part.
Cash squeeze
SSources at UBC have since revealed that the national broadcaster’s efforts to restore service are being hampered by a cash squeeze, which has seen it fail to pay taxes for more than four transmitters and other spare parts. Mr Winston Agaba, the Managing Director of UBC, confirmed that the equipment is lying in Entebbe over unpaid taxes. It is unclear why URA, a government department, would not arrive at some kind of arrangement with another government arm in order to have the spares released as UBC scrounges around for money. Mr Agaba told Sunday Monitor that he had not bothered because the taxman has on several occasions tried to close UBC over taxes.
‘There was a time when URA came with seals, saying: ‘UBC, we are going to close you.’ I raised arguments about this being a government institution, but was told that they had targets and were starting with us who were soft targets,’ Mr Agaba said. Other sources revealed that whereas previously no government department would have attached the accounts of another government department, URA has on several occasions attached UBC’s bank accounts in order to recover tax arrears. Mr Robert Kalumba, the public and corporate affairs manager at URA, could not be reached for a comment by press time.
However, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), told this newspaper that he had not known that vital spares were lying in Entebbe over unpaid taxes. ‘It had not been brought to my attention, but let me find out. This is government-to-government. Why would they not allow it to clear the items and then they can pay later?’ he wondered.
Long running issues
Sunday Monitor understands that UBC, which also runs 11 radio stations across the country, has been experiencing financial difficulties for quite a long period of time. The troubles seem to be pegged to the failure to implement aspects of the UBC Act of 2005. The Act had provided for a TV tax, on which the Corporation was partly expected to survive, but it never became operational, leaving the national broadcaster in a financial mire. Our sources revealed that matters have not been helped by the fact that government funding has been quite difficult to get, leaving UBC with hardly any money to procure and maintain equipment and also pay off its debts.
‘How did we get the spares that are lying in Entebbe? Government gave some money, but what Parliament appropriated is not what the Ministry of Finance released to us,’ Mr Agaba said. The situation, according to sources, has left the organisation with quite a number of big debts, estimated to be within the region of Shs30 billion. Some of those debts are said to date back to 2016. Our sources indicated that the corporation owes URA within the region of Shs7 billion in unremitted taxes. It also owes the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Shs15 billion in unremitted workers contributions and owes the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company (UEDCL) Shs3 billion.
Some of that was carried over from what it used to owe the UEDCL’s predecessor, Umeme, in unpaid electricity bills. Others are National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), which it owes Shs600 million in unpaid water bills; dfcu Bank, which it owes Shs1.2 billion acquired as a loan guarantee in the purchase of modern studio; and Stanbic Bank, which it owes Shs500 million obtained as a loan for the purchase of transmitters.
Past intervention
In October 2016, President Museveni directed the Ministry of Finance to give UBC a bailout to assist it pay off its debts. ‘The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should study the indebtedness of UBC and advise which debts, especially those with government institutions, can be written off. The Minister of Finance should also plan to capitalise UBC with a one-off fund to enable it to take off,’ Mr Museveni wrote. In the same letter to then ICT and National Guidance minister, Mr Frank Tumwebaze, Mr Museveni also directed all government agencies to give more business to UBC.
‘To further give UBC a financial base, all government accounting officers should give priority to UBC and its sister companies while placing adverts in electronic media. The head of the Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet should give a circular to all accounting officers of government departments and agencies to effect this,’ he further wrote. Our sources, however, revealed that the said bailout was never given, which compelled Mr Museveni to issue more instructions. ‘The President advised that interest on what we owe be waived so that we pay only the principal sums,’ Mr Agaba said.
Defaulters
Sunday Monitor has also established that some members of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), who have been affected by the ongoing blackout, are guilty of failure to pay UBC and Signet for sending out their signals to different parts of the country. ‘The guys we have been carrying on the free-to-air channels are in arrears of Shs6 billion, but they are saying ‘we want the service, but we cannot pay.’ They were meant to pay a minimum cost every month, but they do not pay,’ Mr Agaba said.
Mr Joseph Beyanga, who speaks for NAB, acknowledged that some of their members are in arrears. ‘Most of those debts date back to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown when some of the members were not making money and they defaulted. We had several meetings, including one chaired by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament in order to manage this debt and we worked out different ways of how that debt will be managed. Members have taken various steps to meet their obligations,’ Mr Beyanga said.