The nagging of media freedom in Rwanda

Rwanda Shuts Week-Old Weekly

While media freedom might seem worrying in East Africa, it is bleak in Rwanda and Burundi that joined the community this June.

Journalists are still sacked from state media under unclear circumstances and newspapers closed without giving reasons. Such was the fate of The Weekly Post of Rwanda, which was summarily closed on 6 June after publishing only one issue.

Prof. Laurent Nkusi, the Minister of information in the Prime Minister’s office said in a letter addressed to the publishers that, “after circumspect investigations of the information you had provided when you applied for the registration of an English newspaper, The Weekly Post, of the Rwanda Media Holdings Limited Company, I regret to inform you that the acknowledgement receipt N’ 789/03.10 of May 15, 2007, which allowed you to publish the aforesaid newspaper, is from today 6 June 2007 cancelled.”

An acknowledgement receipt is issued before a newspaper is allowed to operate in Rwanda and The Weekly Post got it on 2 May.

The newspaper was started by journalists who had been sacked or resigned from the state-owned The New Times. They include Sulah Nuwamanya, a former New Times editor in charge of upcountry news, is the chief executive of the weekly printed in Uganda at the government-owned The New Vision.

Others are Errenious Akaga, a former senior political journalist at New Times, Issa Kainamura who was The New Times Web master and Julius Mwesigwa, formerly news editor.

Prof. Nkusi told ET on 11 June 11 that, “at the moment there is no answer I can give for” the closure, confirming speculation that the Rwanda intelligence feared the paper was linked to Uganda, with whom relations are still uneasy.

“We are sure there is no reason at all because we fully complied with the law,” Weekly Post CEO Sulah Nuwamanya told ET in an interview.

“Our company (Rwanda Media Holdings) is fully registered and has a commercial registration certificate from the Registrar of Companies. Among the activities of the company included the publication of the newspaper,” adds Nuwamanya.

He said after obtaining the commercial registration certificate, the company filed the newspaper project proposal with the prime minister’s office which registers news papers.

Among the requirements to run a newspaper in Rwanda is an application letter showing the editorial line and the initial capital, format, the language, a company statute, a news paper project proposal, and proof that the managing director and editor of the paper have never been imprisoned. In addition to all these Nuwamanya says his company submitted even its profile.

“We fully complied with the law and that is why our documents were processed within one week and we received an acknowledgement receipt from the ministry allowing The Weekly Post registration and operation,” says Nuwamanya.

Nuwamanya says his newspaper intended to cover East Africa regional with a Rwanda - Burundi perspective.

Analysts believe the Weekly Post was closed because its Rwandese founders all originate from Uganda and it was therefore perceived in security circles as pro-Ugandan. The relations between Rwanda and Uganda are yet to warm up since their armies clashed in late 90s in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Independent sources claim the order to close the newspaper could have originated from the powerful National Security Services (NSS) and the information minister was just a conveyor.
Nuwamanya dispelled such fears, stating: “We are full Rwandans who were only participating in the socio-economic and political development of our country. We wanted to be part of a professional and vibrant media industry promote our country's image in the region through our newspaper.”

He said the newspaper was funded from their savings although there was no law barring external financing.

Pressed to comment about the Ugandan roots and connection, Nuwamanya denied reports linking The Weekly Post to Rtd Maj. David Kabuye, the former Managing Director of The New Times.

“we worked with him so he knows and sympathized with us, but he was not one of the founders, Nuwamanya said.

The High Council of the Press in Rwanda is responsible for regulating the media industry. However, newspapers are registered by the minister of information who no exclusive powers to deregister any newspaper once it is operational.

If a newspaper offends the law, the minister of information writes to the High Council of the Press, which is supposed to start an arbitration process.

The process takes time and there is no provision that allows the minister to terminate a license like in the case of The Weekly Post, sources knowledgeable in the law told ET.

Nuwamanya said they were exploring all the options including arbitration and had written to the director of the Cabinet as well as petitioned the High Council of the Press, which will sit on June 27 to decide on the matter. The Council secretary, Mr. Patrice Murama, told ET, “we are aware of that decision and we are looking into it”.

“We feel there is an invisible hand that we cannot easily identify,” Nuwamanya said, without ruling out sabotage by their former employer turned competitor.