UBC discrimination against Besigye costs taxpayers Shs80 million

In civil suit number 113 of 2012, Lady Justice Margaret Oguli Oumo, of the Civil Division of the High Court, found UBC to have erred in its treatment of Dr Besigye and slapped the public broadcaster with UGX80 million in damages and cost of the suit. 

Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) discriminated against Dr Kizza Besigye in the run-up to the 2011 presidential election and must pay damages amounting to UGX80 million, court has said.

But ideally, it is the taxpayers who will bear the cost for UBC’s error in judgement that saw the public broadcaster initially accept to run commercials for the then presidential candidate and opposition leader, only to inexplicably drop all the ads.

Dr Besigye, who lost the 2011 presidential election to President Museveni, later sued UBC.

In civil suit number 113 of 2012, Lady Justice Margaret Oguli Oumo, of the Civil Division of the High Court, found UBC to have erred in its treatment of Dr Besigye and slapped the public broadcaster with UGX80 million in damages and cost of the suit.

The judge agreed with Besigye that the national broadcaster and its then managing director Edward Musinguzi Mugasa discriminated against him as a presidential candidate when UBC refused to run his 2011 campaign messages.

“The said television and radio stations have a national and wide coverage in Uganda or particular regions of Uganda and as a result of which the campaign message of the plaintiff was expected to receive national coverage,