social media buzz greets monitor 25 · pdf fileat the mainstream political front, ... took the...

Social media buzz greetS@@25Monitor

Daily Monitorwww.monitor.co.ugWednesday, july 28, 2017

Daily Monitorwww.monitor.co.ug

Wednesday, july 28, 2017 monitor@252

By OdOOBO C. BiChaChi

W hen The Monitor was birthed in July 1992, there was near politi-cal consensus in the country. The

NRM/A government that had taken power six years earlier after a bloody post-Idi Amin period of insurgency in Luwero Triangle and West Nile, had largely re-established politi-cal order on toppling Gen Tito Okello Lutwa’s military government.

The short but terribly brutal Teso insur-gency had died down as had the priestess Al-ice Lakwena’s whirlwind rebellion; crashed in the sugar plantations of Magamaga, Iganga. Only small pockets of insurgency still per-sisted in Acholi region. These were off-shoots of Lakwena’s Holy Spirit Movement, this time coagulating under the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony. It would later grow into a more formidable outfit and wreak havoc for the next 15 or so years.

At the mainstream political front, the Democratic Party led by Paul Kawanga Sse-mogerere and the Conservative Party led by Joash Mayanja Nkangi were part of the new

government. Milton Obote’s Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) was outside government but was too weighed down by the misdeeds of the 1980s that the party more or less lay on the dung heap.

A few issues, however, begun to stir the public. There was the Buganda Question (read kingdoms and land), there was privatization and its vehicle the structural adjustment pro-gramme (SAP), there was corruption coming in incremental doses, and soon there was quest for opening of the political space.

The NRA/M had on coming to power through Legal Notice Number26 suspended parts of the 1967 Constitution, among them proscribing political party activities except around the party headquarters. A Constitu-tional Review Commission headed by Justice Benjamin Odoki had been appointed in 1989 to collect views from Ugandans on the new constitution they wanted. The exercise ended in 1992 paving way for the formation of the Constituent Assembly later in 1994.

Coming to life on July 24, 1992, The Monitor was therefore born at a time of many emerg-ing issues. Some of these issues, notably the

Buganda land question, privatization and cor-ruption would play directly into the decision by six journalists – Wafula Oguttu, Charles Onyango-Obbo, David Ouma Balikoowa, Kevin Aliro, James Serugo and Richard Tebere – to walk out of Weekly Topic and found The Moni-tor.

The journalists had robustly covered these issues at Weekly Topic but the newspaper’s owners –now ministers in the new govern-ment – were increasingly under pressure to rein in their journalists. When they brought this pressure down, the journalists quit.

Three of these issues – privatization and democracy – would feature in the very first edition of The Monitor published on July 24 (dated July 31, the last shelf day of the weekly). The tagline of the newspaper would be: “The Paper that builds the Nation”

Platform for debate During the Constituent Assembly (1994 to

1995) and the March 1996 general election, the first since 1980, The Monitor distinguished it-self for its political coverage. This would be its bane as well as opportunity.

“The government used to argue that there was no opposition in Uganda; that the oppo-sition was The Monitor but this is because we gave as much space to those who were speak-ing out against government policies as we gave to the government which we believed was doing many good things. We wanted to help the government win its war against cor-ruption and to promote good governance,” says David Ouma Balikowa, one of the found-ers.

Ironically, the opposition then (read UPC) distrusted The Monitor because the founding journalists had covered the NRA war while at Weekly Topic and were seen to be sympathetic to the rebels. Weekly Topic was banned by the UPC government for some time and only re-sumed publication after Obote’s government fell. Its managind director Wafula Oguttu had close links with President Museveni from their days in exile in Tanzania and UPM. UPC

therefore believed The Monitor was funded through the classified intelligence budget.

All through the elections that Uganda has had since 1996, The Monitor has been the newspaper of choice, providing the most ro-bust and balanced coverage and tackling some issues other newspapers would not touch.

“The Constituent Assembly was vibrant; it had many outspoken and independent debat-ers. That vibrancy was reflected in The Moni-tor as we covered the proceedings”, he adds.

During the northern Uganda insurgency that lasted close to 20 years, The Monitor took an anti-war policy instead championing the need for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. It nonetheless robustly covered the war focus-ing on human rights abuses on either side of the conflict.

Its bold and balanced coverage of the war and politics would later put the newspaper directly into conflict with the government on several occasions resulting in an advertising ban, closure of the newspaper (twice) and ar-rest and harassment of its journalists on vari-ous charges.

Voice of voicelessThe importance of The Monitor as an inde-

pendent voice was never appreciated by many people in government until they fell out of fa-vour with the state. Former Prime Minister Dr Samson Kisekka was perhaps the first to realize this. He had championed the adver-tising ban imposed on The Monitor shortly after it was founded. However when he fell out with the government and had to make his case to the public, it is only The Monitor that could give him a platform to put his message across.

This would happen to countless other gov-ernment officials in the course of the last 25 years. One other such person is a General who once plotted to blow up The Monitor’s print-ing press. Many years later, he needed Daily Monitor to bring out his voice once he fell out with the establishment.

monitor gave alternative voice, platform

“With no organized political forums outside party headquarters, The Monitor soon became the de facto platform for intellectual discourse on emerging issues around the country especially for the many people who could not find voice and space in the state-owned media.”

Odoobo C. Bichachi is the Executive Editor of Monitor Publications Limited.


Wednesday, july 28, 2017monitor@25 3

“The paper is a success because we were able to understand what our readers want. We also have a diligent, dedicated and passionate team working under a solid leadership and works extra time.”

Fredrick Musisi Kiyingi is the editor of Ennyanda.

WELCOME TO

THE FRENCH

LEAGUE

May 5th 09:45 PM

AS Saint-Etienne vs Giro

ndins de Bordeaux (Sports Life Live)

May 7th 10:00 PM

Olympique de Marseille vs OGC Nice (Sports Life Live)

If football t

urns you on,

turn on StarTimes.

Customer Care

041 711 7700, 031 711 7700

TOSUBWA >>

EGYA WIIKENDI

ABAKUGU BAFFE

BAKUWADDE ODI

...7, 8, 9, 17

LWAKUNA, APRIL 27

Alaves vs. Eibar (SS12, 2.30)

Sevilla vs. Celta Vigo (SS7, 3.30)

Man City vs. Man Utd (SS3, 3.45)

Bilbao vs. Betis (SS12, 4.30)

LWAKUTAANO, APRIL 28

Villarreal vs. Gijon (SS12, 3.45)

LWAMUKAAGA, APRIL 29

Sociedad vs. Granada (SS12, 8.00)

Sunderland vs. Bournemouth (SS3/11,

11.00)

West Brom vs. Leicester (SS5, 11.00)

Southampton vs. Hull (SS7, 11.00)

Stoke vs. West Ham (SS9, 11.00)

Real vs. Valencia (SS12, 11.15)

Palace vs. Burnley (SS3/11, 1.30)

Las Palmas vs. Atletico (SS12, 1.30)

Espanyol vs. Barcelona (SS12, 3.45)

SSANDE, APRIL 30

Osasuna vs. Deportivo (SS12, 7.00)

Man Utd vs. Swansea (SS3/11, 8.00)

Middlesbrough vs. Man City (SS5, 10.05)

Everton vs. Chelsea (SS3/11, 10.05)

Betis vs. Alaves (SS12, 11.15)

Tottenham vs. Arsenal (SS3/11, 12.30)

Eibar vs. Leganes (SS12, 1.30)

Celta Vigo vs. Bilbao (SS4/12, 3.45)

MMANDE, MAY 1

Watford vs. Liverpool (SS3/11, 3.45)

Malaga vs. Sevilla (SS12, 3.45)

LWAKUBIRI, MAY 2

Real vs. Atletico (SS3, 3.45)

LWAKUSATU, MAY 3

Ajax vs. Lyon (SS5, 1.45)

Monaco vs. Juventus (SS3/ Select, 3.45)

EGYA TV HIGHEST ODDS

ON UGANDA MARKET!

WWW.FORTEBET.UG

FMU CHALLENGE

SSEBUGUZI

ABALINZE MU

ZE ‘FOTI’

Omuko 20

FLOYD MAYWEATHER

YAKUBYE CASINO ARSENAL

UNITED

OMUPIIRA: Arsene Wenger agambye abawagizi bamuggyeko olunderebu wadde

tawangudde Premier okuva 2004. Arsenal nga yeetegekera Man United mu

nsiitaano y‘ekifo kyokuna ku Ssande, Wenger agambye nti Liverpool emaze emyaka

20 yo nga teri ku ppuleesa? Wenger ajja kuwulira essanyu bw‘anamegga Jose

Mourinho bwe baludde nga bagugulana. United tekubiddwa mu mipiira 23. Omuko 5

LWAKUNA, MAY 4, 2017 Vol.6 No. 018 USHS 1,000

GWA BIFO SI BIKOPONE

>>Omuko 3

By BeatriCe NakiBuuka

i n November 2011, Monitor Publica-tions Limited launched Ennyanda, a Luganda sports publication that

took the market by storm.Mwanaspoti, a Kiswahili newspaper

published by a company owned by the Nation Media Group, which also owns Monitor Publications Ltd, had done well in Tanzania. This implied that there was still space for newspapers published in the local languages to thrive.

Mr Daniel Kalinaki, who was the Managing Editor when Ennyanda was started, says the belief behind the found-ing of Ennyanda was the realisation that the English audience consumed their sports content differently and would be catered for in the main paper, but that the non-English speaking audience had been left out.

Mr Kalinaki says: “The Company relied on a sole product and there was need to get more earning from another paper. I had seen the Nation Media Group’s idea of a local sports newspaper in Swahili called Mwanaspoti in Tanzania doing well and I believed it would work out in Uganda too.”

The paper, which exclusively covers football, comprises of both news and general feature sports stories and gives insights into the game of predictions (betting) and match previews for the Luganda-speaking audience who have passion for sports.

The stories would ordinarily be writ-ten in English and a team would come in at night to translate the content into Luganda and prepare the paper.

“After the first publication of the paper, we went to make-shift centres and boda boda riders who were our tar-get audience about what they exactly wanted to read, and from their feedback we were able to establish our niche,” Mr Fredrick Musisi Kiyingi, who has edited Ennyanda ever since, says.

Ennyanda has been exceedingly suc-cessful and gained popularity among its target audience, which signaled rival

ennyanda setting the pace in sports

companies to launch similar products.“The paper is a success because we

were able to understand what our read-ers want. We also have a diligent, dedi-cated and passionate team working un-der a solid leadership and works extra time,” Mr Musisi-Kiyingi says.

Ennyanda is published on Thursdays at a take-away price of Shs 1,000.



how has been your journey at Monitor?I came to Monitor on December 15, 2000,

I was called to join the team as a producer at Monitor FM, which was just starting. By the time we came in for interviews they were already testing the signals and the station formally started airing in February 2001. Some programs started going on air and others came as time went by. The ra-dio was purely a news-talk format; we had more producers than reporters. Whenever each show had 14 episodes ready, it would go on air.

When did Monitor FM turn to kFM and why?Monitor FM was a news format, a very

rich radio more or less like BBC. It was about news and information, basically heavy stuff. We had a very good audience but it was a very expensive product to

run. I don’t have the figures, I was just a producer. We had an audience; we had ad-vertisers, but we weren’t making enough money. So we had to look for a format where we can get a bigger audience and more opportunities for advertisers, and thus, KFM.

how do you contrast Monitor FM and kFM?KFM is fun. It is better information and

best music. We do a lot of information that you can use to make your life better. We blend that with entertainment, we play lots of music, urban contemporary music, the best of RnB, Afro Pop and Ugandan music. So KFM is an urban contemporary radio station.

What is kFM’s core audience?We target the young adults, Kampala ur-

banites; our core target audience is 25-35 years, urban English speaking, people in-terested in and enjoying life. Most impor-tantly, we target people who are mindful about where they are going in life; pro-gressive people; people in pursuit of suc-cess in life. Those are the people that KFM talks to.

how has been your experience leading kFM? I don’t lead, I am just the cheer leader

and I started doing that around Septem-

Cheerleading KFm to the topMonitor babies. The Monitor Publications Limited, the publisher of Daily Monitor, diversified into radio by launching Monitor FM, which has since been renamed KFM. MPL has also since acquired Dembe FM. Joseph Beyanga, who leads the radio operation and is programs director at KFM, speaks to desire Mbabaali about the journey thus far.

ber 2015. I have a passionate team that is motivated and dynamic. They know what they are supposed to be doing, and are fo-cused on what they are doing, and so my job is to provide them with what they need to do their job and remind them of what we are chasing. I am their biggest cheerleader.

What is kFM’s philosophy?Keeping people informed and entertained;

making them better people. Better informa-tion, best music; that’s what we do best.

So, how is the radio doing?The station has a very big audience and is

the most listened to English radio sta-tion, and the market leader.

What does kFM aspire to do?What KFM does and

aims to continue doing is to bring people’s aspira-tions into perspective and get them on their way to their destination, but also to remain being the market leader.

What does the Monitor mak-ing 25 years mean to kFM?

Monitor’s contribu-tion in the space of free-dom of expression, I respect that. Along the way Monitor gave birth to the mighty 93.3 KFM, and right now, they are unstop-pable.

“I find working at KFM fun with all the vigor with which people work. For example, in the 2006 elections we were known for breaking news

(and) we came on top as the radio that gave up to date, timely, and true information. Everyone was

engaged and doing something.”

Catherine Ageno is the broadcast news editor at

KFM and Ddembe FM



Catherine ageno, enjoys work at KFm

Katongole happy at dembe Fm

“I am the broadcast news editor for KFM and Ddembe FM, but I am also a news an-chor at KFM. My job starts right from planning for the day and that includes attend-ing editorial meetings. I then gather content from the cen-tral point, refine it to suit for the different platforms; edito-rial, broadcast, making sure it conforms to the house style. But again, for radio it is dif-ferent because we have hourly and half hourly news bulle-tins; stale news is not friendly to the ear, so there should be something new.

Being at The Monitor has been my greatest experience. I joined in 2003 when KFM was still Monitor FM as a free-lance news reporter and busi-ness reporter. Over the years, I have grown through the ranks

and every stage has always come with new experiences, opportunities and chal-lenges. And I am still look-ing forward to that.

I find working at KFM fun with all the vigor with which people work. For example, in the 2006 elections we were known for breaking news (and) we came on top as the radio that gave up to date, timely, and true information. Everyone was engaged and doing something.

The biggest challenge was when we had just rebranded Monitor FM to KFM. We had a lot of convincing to do for the public and the advertisers. They always asked, “What does the ‘K’ mean? And why is your brand colour yel-low?”

“My journey at MPL (Monitor Publications Ltd) can be traced from five years ago when I joined as Dembe FM’s programmes controller. Many things have changes ever since. MPL is a corporate company and so things have changed. This is the third company I have worked for, but I appreciate the professionalism with which The Monitor does things. Here you follow poli-cies and so it has been a great learning experi-ence for me.

Dembe’s core audience is females between ages 20-35, Luganda speakers. We are looking at a woman who is doing business and is able to at least earn Shs200, 000 a month.

The radio has not yet reached where we want it to be, but what I can say is that we are trying, and succeeding in doing better. We are eye-ing to be the best Luganda radio station in the country, and this will be achieved by giving our listeners and clients the best.”

Moses katongole is dembe FM’s programmes manager.



Features writer who is as old as daily monitor

By FauStiN MuGaBe

a s the founders of The Monitor put the final touches to the first issue of the paper 25 years ago, Godfrey Lu-

gaaju’s mother was enduring labour pangs at Kitovu Missionary hospital in Masaka District. He is now a features writer at Daily Monitor.

Lugaaju is just one of many. A rough es-timate shows that today the Daily Monitor newsroom has more than half of its journal-ists, interns included, ranging between 20 and 27 years old.

Lugaaju, the second born of four children, joined Mak-erere University in 2013 to pursue a degree in Arts ma-joring in Literature and is set to graduate the next time the university holds passes out students. Although Lugaaju studied Literature in Eng-lish, his love for journalism brought him to the Daily Monitor in 2015 as one of many interns. He has since done a number of articles, including one on a At 37 –year old woman in Kay-unga who has 38 children.

hard at work. the Monitor newsroom in the 1990s. FiLe PhoTos. Leading. Nation Media Group CeO Joe Muganda hands over a portrait caricature to ruth aine tindyebwa at MPL’s thought Leaders Forum last year.

Partnership. MPL Md tony Glencross (r) and NSSF Md richard Byarugaba sign an MOu at the Monitor offices in Namuwongo.

Courtesy call. daily Monitor’s executive editor Charles Bichachi (r) receives businessman ashish thakkar in his office.

Connecting with society. Monitor founder member Jimmy Serugo handing out a cheque on behalf of the company in the early years.



How the monitor penetrated the Luwero jungles

By rOGerS MuLiNdWa

i t is always exciting to be part of a success-ful story and as the Daily Monitor marks its jubilee celebrations, I look back at how

the paper many thought was ‘anti-govern-ment’ took a central place in the minds of the Luwero people.

Because the National Resistance Move-ment had waged its war in Luwero and made a good impression on Luwero residents, the residents of Luwero had a wrong perception that The Monitor because they perceived it to be pro-NRM.

When my first story ran in 1994, I carried the copy with me for nearly a week. The rea-son here was that my name appeared on the national scene. I still recall though that my editor, Mr David Ouma Balikowa, or DOB as we called him, had a lot of input in that story.

Since I had no press identity card, I would photocopy my stories and use them as in-troductory documents to sources and other people. Slowly, the residents developed trust in my operations as more of my stories kept running.

I grew into the role that with time no gov-ernment official or politician would address a press conference or a public gathering in Luwero area before the arrival of The Moni-tor staff (read Rogers Mulindwa). In all public offices in the district, The Monitor became a daily menu since it provided them with reli-able and accurate information.

As I marketed the paper, I was also indi-rectly popularising myself. In 1998 I was elected to the district youth executive before I contested to become a directly elected dis-trict councillor representing Wobulenzi Town Council.

I was made an executive member at the dis-trict level as secretary for works and technical services. I can also proudly say that I hold my current position as the communications of-ficer of the ruling National Resistance Move-ment partly because of the good training I got from Namuwongo.

This aside, it wasn’t so easy having your story out in a paper that only ran on Monday (purple), Wednesday (green) and Friday (red)

in the early 1990s. The digital world had not reached us yet. Stories were hand-written and hand-delivered to the office. Just like many other upcountry staff, we had no offices. We operated on the streets. The Bureaus only came after a long time of our sweat. This re-minds me of Mr David Mukwaya, who was our contact person at the headquarters. He did a commendable job.

I will never forget the story I wrote when a bull nearly killed President Museveni while presiding over a function at Ngoma in the cur-rent Nakaseke District. What about that body guard that shielded him!

Unlike at the headquarters where some reporters specialized in certain areas, an up-country reporter was all-round. I would file news stories, features, business stories and cover sports events, among other things. On one memorable occasion I had 21 stories in one issue! It was in that Wednesday green paper!

To market the paper, I started writers clubs in prominent primary schools like Wobulenzi Day and Boarding Parents School, Naalinya Lwantale Girls and Wobulenzi Public School. I offered guidance to the students on writing stories.

One rainy Tuesday, I was assigned to travel to the floating islands situated on Lake Kyoga. Life here was amazing as majority of the oc-cupants were serial criminals escaping from the mainland. Having a toilet was taboo and residents could only sail in a small boat and defecate into the water!

They were very comfortable with this un-hygienic practice of contaminating the same water they used for domestic purposes. Sail-ing in a canoe and my three days stay there will never get out of my mind. Ogen Kevin Aliro (RIP) offered me immense support all through.

Another assignment was travelling to Matembe in Kamira sub county, Luwero Dis-trict, to report on the operations of an insti-tution then owned by retired UPDF soldier Major Kakooza Mutale. I went through four road blocks and answered tens of questions to get there. Henry Bongyereirwe, the photo-journalist I was with, could only take pictures through the windscreen. The visit lasted just minutes but yielded two full pages in our pa-per.

I also did a feature on a Catholic Church priest, Rev Fr Kalyebi (RIP), who had an ex-citing story having served as an army Captain and a priest at the same time. He carried both a gun and the Bible during Idi Amin’s regime. Sunday Monitor carried this feature that later attracted even the international media.

I also enjoyed my Saturday sports columns - ‘Inside FUFA House’. In fact when I left The Monitor in 2005 I ended up at Fufa House.

I salute my colleagues who scoured other upcountry centres for news - Ahmed Musoga (Mbarara), Felix Basiime (Fort portal), John Muto (Gulu), Augustine Emojong (Tororo), Michael Ssali (Masaka), Isaac Mufumba (Jinja) and Sam Opio Caleb (Kamuli), among others.

Wherever we are, we still appreciate serv-ing this great paper. And to everybody at Na-muwongo and elsewhere, happy Silver Jubi-lee celebrations to you!

Mr rogers Mulindwa is the head of communica-tions at NrM head offices in kampala.



By deSire MBaBaaLi

s he is seated behind her computer, a couple of receipts piled in her working space… just a lady fin-

ishing up her day’s work. We are not personally acquainted, but she is warm and soft spoken; that is Betty Nanyunja, one of Daily Monitor’s longest serving employees. After I have explained the purpose of my visit, she takes a reflec-tive pause – the one you take while in search of where to begin telling a long, good story.

“I joined The Monitor four years after it had started, in 1996. I entered the com-pany as a Business Executive in adver-tising, but two years later, transferred to the cash office in the finance depart-ment,” she starts. As a youthful girl of 24 then, Nanyunja has grown together with Daily Monitor, where she has now been for 21 years, from its early years when it operated out of a run-down office on Dewinton Road, where she shared the two rooms of the Finance department with six other colleagues who made up the finance department.

“From Dewinton, the company of-fices then moved to Crown House. We all shared the office premises – the edi-torial department, circulation, advertis-

ing – and we would fit because by then we were only a few employees,” she says reminiscing.

As the phrase goes, old is gold. The years of working in the finance office have to Nanyunja been enriching and a worthy experience.

“Over the years I have learned to bal-ance money, handle customers; both external and internal. I have interacted with people from different walks of life. But more importantly, I have made friends,” she says. From the team of six she started out with, to the team of about 23 people she works with now in the fi-nance department, the feeling of belong-ing and co-working both with colleagues and superiors has made Daily Monitor feel more than just a work place to her. It’s home, she says.

the growthNothing is more rewarding than

watching something you dedicate your life, energy, intellect and time grow so big and better. The most rewarding ex-perience for Nanyunja has been seeing the company grow from only employing a few people to employing hundreds of people, and from operating in rented of-fice premises to its own home in Namu-wongo.

“I have seen Daily Monitor’s reader-

Betty nanyunja: 21 years ofcounting monitor’s money ship grow, circulation increase,

and new technologies adopted. I remember those years when we used manual receipt booking; to-day we use SAP, a computerized system,” she recalls.

“In the challenging department of handling cash, being honest, God fearing, and following company policy, the cash office policies, seeking to be an employee satisfy-ing her superior’s needs, yet being a simple person has kept me afloat (and have enabled me) to now be part of these 25 years of producing excellence,” Nanyunja says.

“I have seen big changes take place in the company; the biggest of them being Daily Monitor relo-cating to its home in Namuwongo. Personally, my best moment at Monitor was when we were unex-pectedly given the biggest bonus I have ever had in my life at the end of the year in 2010,” she says.

There have been trying moments too, she says, and to her the “most depressing” moment was when Daily Monitor was shut down by the police in 2013.

“I congratulate management, staff and our esteemed customers on this milestone. We always work to deliver the Truth, and nothing else.”

Seen it all. Betty Nanyunja. She has seen the Monitor grow from only employing a few people to employing hundreds of people, and from operating in rented office premises to its own home in Namuwongo.

t he newspaper business is largely driven by corporate advertising. The idea is that

the newspaper does incisive jour-nalism that attracts readers, and companies, which are targeting the readers, place paid adverts in the paper.

Overall, a modern newspaper will survive and thrive based on how much readership it draws, and by extension how much advertising follows it.

The first copy of The Monitor, published on July 24, 1992, car-ried an advert, a front page solus, by Redfox Forex Bureau owned by businessman Sudhir Ruparelia, who continued to advertise with The Monitor and Daily Monitor over the years.

In the mid-1990s, the govern-ment slapped an advertising ban on The Monitor, squeezing the news-paper’s revenue base for the about three years the ban continued. Pri-vate sector and some other players chipped in to advertise with the paper, however, which the founding directors say was a big help until the government resumed advertising in The Monitor.

Now the government and all cor-porate players, from the telecoms to the beer and beverage companies, real estate, education institutions, banking and insurance firms, law firms, distributors, civil society or-ganisations, and other sectors ad-

monitor’s first advert

vertise with Daily Monitor. In this special magazine, the leaders of Monitor Publica-tions Limited have made it clear that the paper will continue on the path of incisive journalism that will draw in readers and at-tract even more advertising.



Full page adIMG



my monitor storyJuLiuS MuCuNGuzi

Daily Monitor @25: I received my first formal job appointment contract (from The Monitor) on July 29, 1999 just as we were writing our final exams at Maker-ere University. The Monitor had been in existence for exactly seven years and five days when my offer came. The letter was signed by none other than the one and only Charles Onyango-Obbo. Our lecturers Peter Mwesige and Onapito Ekomoloit (both of them worked for The Moni-tor too) encouraged us while in first year in the Mass Comm class to start writing for the newspapers. They advised us that three years at university were not a long time, and we needed to straight away start preparing for life after cam-pus--or else we would pound the streets looking for jobs after leaving the gates of Makerere. That was one of the most use-ful pieces of advice I ever received from a teacher. We took their advice and have never regretted. This would later become the same message I would share with the students I had the privilege to teach or interact with.

The Monitor built us. It nurtured us. It opened many doors of opportunity (Mr Rugyendo is a founder member of the Red Pepper). My first article in The Monitor was published in June 1997 ( in the 3rd term of our first year at campus) – and from that day I would later write

and get hundreds, may be a few thousands, of stories published

in the five years I worked with the paper. The collec-tion of all my published ar-ticles you see there are in 11 volumes--with thanks to my son Elton Byansi for tediously (at a fee, so

do not rush to him for free service) combing newspa-

per records to compile them. With more thanks to the follow-

ing people who made my stay at the Monitor worthwhile: Wafula Oguttu, Arinaitwe Otim Rugyendo, Bagyenzire Atuhaire Alex, Odoobo Charles Bichachi, Henry Bongyereirwe, Teddy Nannozi, Sarah Sseggane, Charlotte Ntulume, Sara Namulondo (RIP),Henry M. Bayego, Da-vid Balikowa, James Serugo, Sim Kyazze, Fideri Kirungi, Pius Muteekani Katunzi, Titus Kakembo, Katamba Mohammed, Jane Nandawula, Col Johnson Makanga and many others.

Muhereza kyaMutetera Happy Birthday darling Daily

Monitor. I will always call you home. Hilary Bainemigisha, thanks for editing and publish-ing my very first newspaper article. Mariam Nakisekka, you too helped me a lot in secur-ing space in Women & Men. Thank you Mzee Wafula Oguttu for eventually securing me a place on the business desk, where Orla Ryan and Fredrick Ma molded me into a star busi-ness reporter. For all the other cool people I worked with, such as Dorothy Nakaweesi, Risdel Kasasira, Emma Mugarura, Jack Daniel Kalinaki, Ashah Nta-badde Bbosa, Grace Natabaalo, Henry H. Ssali, Simon Kasyate, Diana Bellaand, and many oth-ers, it was good knowing you all. I wish my Daily Monitor many more successful years.

Thank you Daily Moni-tor for remembering us. Got me nostalgic for a bit there! Now I even want to come back (for like a min-ute). Margaret Vuchiri, I hope you get to write a weekly column sometime soon. Happy 25th.

Happy 25th anniversary @Daily Monitor. Very proud to have been nurtured by you. I joined in 2003 and retired in 2013, a decade later!

It’s a fact. Uganda’s finest journalists/communicators have had a stint at Daily Monitor over the past 25 years. Its products are everywhere - State House, Parliament, Judiciary, Devel-opment Partners, Foreign Mis-sions, NGOs, Public Relations, Media, name it. Long Live Daily Monitor.

JOhN SSeNkeezi God said, “Let there

be Daily Monitor” and my face appeared in its Silver Jubilee edition. Celebrating 25 years of truth and feeling home-sick already!

NtV uGaNdaToday, Daily Monitor cel-

ebrates 25 years of ‘Truth Every Day’! Keep on keeping on...#MonitorAt25

MOSeS SeruGOAh yeah, Daily Monitor @

25. Thank you for all those fly-ing miles I gathered early on in the nighties. It was because of you that I made maiden visits to South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Dubai and the UK. I owe you my first passport ac-quisition and all the subsequent visas plus immigration stamps.

the aFriCaN CeNtre FOr Media exCeLLeNCe (aCMe)

Happy anniversary Daily Monitor! Great report card of your 25 years in today’s paper. A recommended read for all.

FLaVia MiLLy LaNyerO Twenty five years of Truth

Everyday... Happy silver Jubi-lee Monitor Publications Ltd; you made me and I am glad to be your alumnus.

Our partner Daily Monitor commemorates 25 years. We congratulate you and thank you for the awesome relationship thus far.

JaNet NaPiO

eMMaNueL GyezahO

Peter NyaNzi

iNterNatiONaL hOSPitaL kaMPaLa

Messages. Following the publication of Daily Monitor’s silver Jubilee commemorative magazine on Monday, social media, especially Facebook, was awash with personal stories involving the newspaper. in this second and last part of the commemorative magazine, we bring you some of these reactions.

SheiLa NaturiNdaHappy birthday dear Monitor. A few years

ago I came to you, I enjoyed myself, I played my part, I moved on.....not so far from you...I continued loving you. I still cherish my mo-ments in the newsroom, the company, the bare knuckles sometimes, the stereotypes of those who didn’t know what we believed in, the strange looks during some government events, the everything. My colleagues with whom we laughed, shared work stations, fought, cried together...our by-lines ... our editors, our MEs, our EE and our administration. I love you all. Evelyn Lirri, Grace Natabaalo, Aidah Nalubega Bagyenzire Atuhaire Alex, Tabu Butagira, Summy Namatich, Bettie Kyakuwa, Emman-uel Gyezaho Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi, Chris Obore, Among Barbara, Jacobs O Seaman, Kasasira Risdel, Wanyama Don Innocent, Ger-ald Bareebe, Odoobo Charles Bichachi, Isaac Midas Imaka, among others, and all strong men and women at MPL ... and at NMG ... I love you; I cherish you. I will always stand by you. You made me what I am today; you gave me and continue giving me a plaform. God bless you!



FLOra adukPoetry, the answer I gave

an editor, Carol Beyanga, that hot afternoon in March 2005 when I leant over her desk trying to put up a brave front when she asked: “What can you write?” “We do not run poetry in the newspaper.” My face fell, as she took a few seconds to add “... but try and write some prose and bring then we will see.” My friend Jan Ajwang and I did a little victory dance as she walked me out of the DM newsroom.

M o n i t o r @25 brings back memo-ries of walk-ing the high paths and low trenches of freelance journalism. The cheeky, interesting and hardworking lot of my time: Moses Serugo, Abbey Rafsanjan, Angela Nampewo, Godwin Bonge-Muhwezi, Gaaki Kigambo, Dennis D. Muhumuza, Nigel M. Nassar, Henry H. Ssali, Jan Ajwang, Diana Bella, Summy Namat-ich, Faridah Luyiga, Kameo Eliza, Susan Muyiyi, Rodney Muhumza, Darius Mugisha, Edgar R. Batte and many more who joined the newsroom when I was off the footwork. We worked hard and played hard too. The newsroom at 9pm looked like it was 10am

and the newsroom was a market then there where the office parties that ended way past midnight.

I was trusted and guided by the likes of Irene Kiiza, On-yango, Julie Nabwire, Charity Kalebo, Mariam Nakisekka, Henry H. Ssali, Lilian Barenzi, Margaret Vuchiri, Jack Daniel Kalinaki, Carol Beyanga made my day.

Listening for the tick tok of Wayua Muli’ s heels in the corridors, to peeping out the

window for Lilian Baren-zi’s car. Trying not to

make eye contact with Peter Mwesige on the steps after you penned that relationship story just when he had

asked your edi-tor “how can those

young girls be writing relationship stories?”

Standing still as Bernard Tabaire scolded you about a misplaced comma and smil-ing secretly when he thought you had done a great job or when Fred Masiga gave you a stern look then joked almost immediately. It was quite an experience.

My greatest time was when I edited Full woman pull out. Growing to manage this prod-uct and having fun while at it defined most of my great journalism days.

We soldier on. Happy 25th to The Daily Monitor.

taBu ButaGiraMonitor@25: It started for me,

more than 16 years ago when fresh out of high school, with submitting hand-written stories sealed in an en-velope for dispatch by bus from Arua to Kampala, later graduating to us-ing a typewriter in New Vision’s Arua office, courtesy of late Ahmed Angu-libo, was a modernised relief.

I had to book a day in advance at the Post Office to get a slot to fax the typed story. It was superb while gath-ering news to crouch on the back of pickups, returning home either dust-caked or rain-soaked. Then came a terrible mix-up and my stories were not published for six straight months, even as I regularly filed, and with-out feedback. Armed with “ok” transmission reports of faxed copies, I stormed The Moni-tor head office.

The West Nile highway was still a dirt road, the 520-kilometre journey to the city enervating and Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel am-bushes common on the route. I had a haggard and an almost rebel-equivalent disposition on arrival at The Moni-tor headquarters and a blood-shot look meant it was safer for the recep-tionist to fast-track me to see and present my case directly to then Editor David Ouma Balikowa.

During the 2009 pro-Buganda king-dom riots, about 10

UPDF soldiers put I, Wanyama Don Innocent, Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi, and a journalism student at Uganda Christian University as well as the driver at gun point at the Kabaka’s palace in Kireka, a Kampala suburb, as we dared at night to establish if the king was under house arrest as we had been tipped.

That’s besides a number of police summonses; one of the last two was interrogation during which the po-lice wanted me to pin Kizza Besigye on allegations that he was involved in subversive activities, or else I’d be charged with “misprison of treason”. Alex Atuhaire and Jack Daniel Kali-naki have seen trouble and days with problematic Reporters! My Monitor

@25 story is loading, but shall Kefa Atibuni and Patrick Donald Oucha

have a greater health and longer life for allowing me to share by-line with them in my first days

when I’d the least journalistic competence. And all edi-

tors who struggled with my not-so-good

copies, particularly then Upcountry Editor (what a

title!), late Sarah N a m u l o n d o,

as well as sources that gave infor-

mation that enabled me

build a name and rise in journalism, merci beaucoup.



only hard work wouldsave you at monitor

By rOBert MuGaGGa

i was still at school, so tiny and ignorant. The late Daily Moni-tor editor, Kevin Ogen Aliro,

noticed my contributions in Kampala’s weekly Soccer World magazine owned by Cranes and KCC’s former coach Bidandi Ssali and veteran journalist late Paul Waibale Snr. Bidandi was also one of the owners of Weekly Topic, for which Aliro and his other col-leagues with whom they founded The Monitor had worked.

In late 1992, Aliro approached me through a friend and journal-ist, Douglas Nsubuga, saying he liked my sports stories and sug-gested that I write for The Moni-tor, then a bi-weekly.

Aliro was keen not to spoil my good relations with Soccer World and proposed that I write for The Monitor using a pen name, Fred Muwuta, which he himself chose. This went on for some time un-detected as I enjoyed good pay to supplement the pocket money I was getting at Soccer World.

But it was hard at times, like when a plane carrying the entire Zambian national football team crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on their way for a World Cup

qualifier in Senegal and both publication required me to write a comment about it. I wrote two completely different pieces for The Monitor and Soccer World. One editor at Soccer World com-mented that The Monitor had on that occasion done a better piece on the tragedy.

In June 1993, I officially joined The Monitor as a sports re-porter, where I got to work with hardworking editors like Wa-fula Oguttu (Waf), the bearded Charles Onyango-Obbo, Jimmy Serugo, David Ouma Balikowa (DOB), Kevin Aliro and Richard Tebere. They worked throughout the day and retired late at night, tempting some of us newcomers to think that possibly these guys had no families.

There were very hardworking senior reporters and sub-editors too. Think Onapito Ekomoloit, Henry Muwanga Bayego, Kyazze Semwogerere, Peter Mwesige, Martin Mpungu, Dismus Nkunda, Linda Nabusayi, Lilian Nsubuga, Sarah Mirembe, Hamisi Kaheru, Laura Mulenga, Hassan Badru Zziwa, Fred “Snoogie” Senoga (the cartoonist) and Rashid Mu-din. Then there was this talkative Makerere University student, Andrew Mwenda, who used to

come in once in a while.Others like Pius Mutekani Ka-

tunzi, Robert Mukasa “Spin” , Gerald Owach, Teddy Nannozi, Loy Nabeta and Joseph Were joined later when some report-ers broke away to form The Cru-sader.

Mwenda was very noisy and naughty. He would, for example, find Waf eating something and seriously demand for a share. One time he threw tantrums in the office that his feature on the newly elected Makerere Univer-sity guild president Stephen Ga-logitho was taking long without being published.

Then there was the pipe smok-ing Peter Mwesige, ever jolly and cracking jokes. One time in April 1995, Mwesige wrote a lead story with a headline “Knickers found in minister’s car.” The story was about the abduction in Gayaza of a minister and a lady he was trav-elling with by the then dreaded Itongwa rebels.

Kyazze Simwogerere never cared to comb his overgrown hair but looked so serious at work, always busy either on the computer or reading a book. He was the opposite of Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga, the ladies’ man who was so friendly indeed. He one day

lost a notebook after interviewing a pow-erful politician. In order to get the note book back, Vukoni had no choice but to hire almost all street kids along Dewinton road to scour all the garbage around the National Theater.

The editors were very strict on report-ers beating deadlines for stories, plus talking to as many people as possible. We had no internet access in office, for instance.

I had tried my hand at writing features whenever I finished my sports stories early and one day the bespectacled Rich-ard Tebere told me it had been decided that from then on I would write both sports and general features. I became an all-rounder.

During off work hours at home, I would record the BBC “Focus on Africa” new items, which I would later transcribe. They used to be published as side bar briefs on foreign feature pages. Charles

Onyango-Obbo welcomed this idea and directed that I get paid separately for this work.

In July 1997, I wrote a lead story with the headline “Hungry children beaten at State House gates”. About 100 kids carrying placards reading “Museveni tuyambe naye tufa enjala (meaning “Museveni come to our rescue, we are dying of hunger) were beaten by security guards at the main en-trance. I felt happy about reporting on that instance. There were others I did and made me very proud: “Prison warders in horror tortures” and “World Cup isn’t about poli-tics”.

And there was this funny story I enjoyed writing in November 1996. It was an inci-dent when students of Kabasanda techni-cal institute in Butambala District went on rampage, forcing the director and founder, Haji Abdu Kiggundu to sign cheques for overdue payment owed to striking teach-ers. At dawn the students, armed with sticks, stones and pangas went to Kig-gundu’s home, a kilometer away from the institute, singing war songs, forced their way inside and dragged the big man from his bed, taking him all the way to the in-stitute’s playing field. It was from there that he was forced to sign the two blank cheques.

I won the sports journalist of the year accolade in the 2005 Golden Pen awards, and in 2007 the features writer of the year. My work with The Monitor afforded me the opportunity to travel the world, visit-ing the EU parliament in Brussels, West-minster in London, the Danish parliament, “the Folketing” (This was in 2000 when it was in session with my presence being an-nounced before then prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen), the BBC radio at Bush House in London, and at one time having a working day at Chicago’s Suntimes’ news-room in America.

social media buzz greets monitor 25 · pdf fileat the mainstream political front, ... took the...

Documents