Парламент Уганды вернул журналистам доступ в пресс-галерею

Parliament has reopened its press gallery to journalists, restoring a dedicated media workspace that had been withdrawn from reporters during the tenure of the 11th Parliament, the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association (UPPA) has announced. UPPA President Samuel Ibanda Mugabi said the decision followed a meeting between Speaker Jacob Oboth-Oboth and the association’s leadership, and took effect with Tuesday plenary sitting. Writers and reporters will now work from the restored gallery, while camera operators will continue to be stationed at their usual position near the VIP Gallery. UPPA has welcomed the move as an important step towards professional and independent coverage of the House. The restoration closes out a turbulent period for parliamentary journalism under Oboth-Oboth’s predecessor, Anita Among, whose administration was accused of steadily narrowing media access to the House. Journalists that report from parliament endured repeated confrontations during the 11th Parliament, including a November 2024 incident in which reporters were locked inside a conference hall after being pulled out of the gallery during a scuffle among MPs debating the Coffee Amendment Bill. This prompted a brief coverage boycott. A year later, in October and November 2025, Parliament barred Nation Media Group journalists — including those from NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor — from covering proceedings altogether. That exclusion only ended after Among’s own fall from office earlier this year amid a corruption investigation that saw her placed under scrutiny over suspected illicit enrichment, her offices searched and assets, including a personalised Rolls-Royce, confiscated. Oboth-Oboth, a former Minister of Defence, was elected Speaker of the 12th Parliament in May 2026. In his maiden address after taking the oath of office, Oboth-Oboth explicitly promised to reverse his predecessor’s approach to the press, listing an “open Parliament” among pillars he pledged to steer the House by. He said that shutting out journalists only bred suspicion rather than protecting the institution’s image, and committed to a more engaged relationship with reporters covering the House.