Office Of The President Trains Teso Journalists On Fighting Corruption
Journalists from different media houses in Teso Sub-region have received training on the skills they need to participate in the fight against corruption
The training was conducted in Soroti City by the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity in the Office of the President.
Peter Pex Paac, the Soroti City Resident Commissioner, who officially opened the training, appreciated the role of journalists in holding public and private officials to account and fighting corruption generally.
Peter Pex Paac, the Soroti City Resident Commissioner, who delivered a paper at the training, urged journalists to be professional in their work and also be patriotic to avoid being used by people hell-bent on achieving their personal selfish interests.
He, however, noted with concern that some journalists do not publish certain stories unless they are given money. The RCC condemned such unprofessional practices.
Nickolas Abola, the Commissioner for Information and Communication in the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity, Office of the President, noted that the training also gave the Directorate an opportunity to assess the implementation of the Zero Tolerance to Corruption Policy, 2019. The policy was officially launched on 4th December 2019.
Commissioner Abola also urged the journalists to be patriotic and also advised them to practice high levels of integrity and objectivity to effectively play their watchdog role. He condemned the practice of some unprofessional journalists who take bribes in order not to publish certain stories or even take money to publish others.
Alex Okello, the Permanent Secretary in the Directorate for Ethics and Integrity rallied the media to take its rightful place in fighting corruption through sensitization and exposing corrupt people and corruption practices.
George Muron, a journalist with the Daily Monitor newspaper thanked the Office of the President for empowering journalists in fighting corruption through the training. He observed that corruption was real and had sort of been normalized in some people’s minds. Muron noted that there were many forms of corruption.
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