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here is something that I badly miss. It was a morning radio programme show. Every morning it was tradition for me to listen in to 'Kalisoliso' on the now closed Central Broadcasting Service (CBS).
There was simply no programme to match this one; it mixed humour with sports presented by characters like Abbey Mukiibi, Kato Lubwama and Abu Kawenja that would guarantee brightening up a dull morning.
On the same station was also this guy called Kayibanda whose humour and accent would make my day. He too is gone. Total silence!
The car radio has since remained tuned in on to the station, waiting for it to open. Hopefully when the bravado between the state and the kingdom is over, I will be able to listen to my favourite programme once again.
You see when two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers, as they say. Never had a Head of State put to task by the voters he will be meeting next year, asking not for sugar, not for soap but the reopening of a radio station.
That speaks volumes; that the people now know what it means to have freedom of expression and listening in to what they believe is the only means through which they can vent their anger.
Don't get me wrong. I know what a hate radio can do. I listened to Radio Mille Collines* in Rwanda in 1994 and what hate messages can mean. You see, for many of us, we have always thought that what is said on radio is truth and nothing but the truth.
Decades ago, when the only means of accessing radio was through Radio Uganda, we sought other alternatives such as BBC or even Radio Deutsche Welle broadcasting from Köln in Germany. But when we were liberated the media was freed as business entities.
FM radio stations mushroomed. Now almost every village has its own FM station. There is even a 'Voice of Muhabura' in my village in Kisoro.
What was not anticipated when the airwaves were freed was the power that came with easy access to information. Open dialogue became the norm. Listeners began calling in to vent their anger in the remote hope that their tormentors would hear that they were unhappy.
Late last year I was invited to be a panelist on Vision Radio. I was in the studio with my good friends Robert Kabushenga and Harry Kasigwa, MP Jinja Municipality. Trust me, even when we differed on opinions, the discussion was lively.
At the end I was taken on a tour of the investments at New Vision, including the state of the art printing facility which I was to learn was the most modern in East and Central Africa, even beating The Nation's in Nairobi.
There was a TV that was about to go on air. There were the different radio stations such as Radio Etop for Eastern Uganda and Rupiny for the north. There was of course Radio West and there was Bukedde, which ordinarily would have been a perfect competitor of CBS. All these are under the Vision Group.
So when I heard that CBS was closed I wondered; would it not have been better since these investments by Vision Group are close to the state to have used the same means of communication to counter what a rebel radio like CBS was doing to the ordinary listeners?
I will continue to argue that the best way to counter an opposing view is not to completely silence the dissenting view but rather to offer a counter argument.
Is it not better to know what people are thinking about you than making them keep the anger under wraps? I thought that as we headed to the proverbial 2011, the best way to gauge the public mood would be to make the voters be heard in the remote hope that you would then design the right strategy to make them cast their votes well.
As we trudge along, and as the war of words continues, many more of the other independent voices will certainly find themselves in the same predicament as CBS.
Like it was advised a while back to the more approachable FM stations, maybe it's better that CBS only plays music and doesn't air any other programmes, if that will assuage the powers that be.
That is sometimes called the deep cost of democratic space. Maybe I should stop here lest I too am banned from writing in this column.
The author is a human rights expert and specialist on refugee issues
Source: http://bit.ly/cYpi3w
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* Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines.
"Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role during the April-July 1994 Rwandan Genocide. The station's name is French for "Mille Collines Free Radio and Television", deriving from the description of Rwanda as "Land of a Thousand Hills". It received support from the government-controlled Radio Rwanda, which initially allowed it to transmit using their equipment.[1] Widely listened to by the general population, it projected racist propaganda against Tutsis, moderate Hutus, Belgians, and the United Nations missionUNAMIR. It is widely regarded as having played a crucial role in creating the atmosphere of charged racial hostility that allowed the genocide to occur. A November 2009 study—by a PhD candidate at the Institute for International Economic Studies of Stockholm University—estimated that the broadcasts explained an increase in violence that amounted to 45,000 Tutsi deaths, about 9% of the total"...From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Télévision_Libre_des_Mille_Collines Uganda is a pioneer in the liberalisation of the media in Africa. Private radio and TV have mushroomed since the government loosened controls in 1993. By late 2006 the central region around Kampala was home to more than 40 FM radio stations and 10 TV stations. Rural radio stations serve various ethnic groups and there is a cluster of faith-based radios. But the state sometimes criticises the conduct of private broadcasters. Some have been accused of raising ethnic tensions and of being negative in their reporting. The authorities suspended broadcasts of a popular private station KFM for a time in August 2005 after it broadcast a debate about the death of a Sudanese former rebel leader. Radio is the most popular medium. Public UBC Radio can be heard across the country in English and vernacular languages. BBC World Service is widely available on FM (101.3 in Kampala), and Radio France Internationale broadcasts on FM in the capital. Although the print media are led by the state-owned New Vision newspaper, it enjoys considerable independence and often publishes articles which criticise the government.Country profile: Uganda.
MEDIA
Radio
- UBC Radio - public, run by Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, operates five stations including commercial Star FM
- Radio Simba - private
- Capital Radio - private
- KFM - private, operated by Monitor Publications
- Radio One - private
- Sanyu FM - Uganda's first private station
- Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) - private, operated by Buganda Kingdom
- City FM - private, operated by ruling National Resistance Movement.
| Radio Stations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arua One FM is the voice of northern Uganda. The station broadcasts in Lugbara, Mahdi, Kakwa, Swahili, English, French and Lingala. 
Profile
CBS Radio Buganda is the largest local private commercial FM radio station jointly owned by the Buganda Kingdom and private investors. 
Welcome to Connect Uganda. Your number one stop for live Ugandan Music on the internet.
Impact FM is the Christian Family Station broadcasting 24 hours a day.
Kiira FM is based in Jinja Town and is the voice of the population of Eastern Uganda.
Radio Maria is a global Catholic network broadcasting in more than 30 nations
Radiosimba Uganda is one of Uganda's premier radio stations and has been ranked Best Radio Station two years in a row.
Top Radio is a unique talk, music and news station. The radio serves the local community with a varied programming ranging from prayers,news and drama to preaching sermons, talk shows and sports.Cbs Fm-89.2, Kampala, Uganda
The radio stations include Simba FM, KFM, Hot 100, Beat FM and Capital FM
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