Information minister reacts on suspended Umuseso and Umuvugizi

For the first time the minister of information Mr. Protais Musoni has set government’s position on the temporally closure of the two independent tabloids (Umuvugizi and Umuseso).
The recently suspended Kinyarwanda tabloids were temporally closed on orders of Media High Council for six month over violation of the media law and inciting public disorder.
The executive secretary of Rwanda’s media high council Mr. Patrice Murama had noted that the two media houses received several warnings but constantly falling on deaf ears. “We had delayed to take actions against these two newspapers we suspended recently like one of you has commented but we wanted to first teach them and see if they can a bide by journalistic code of ethics,” Mr. Musoni said yesterday while addressing hundreds of journalists at Nyanza Genocide Memorial site, Kicukiro District where they gathered to remember journalists who died in 1994 Genocide. “Since 2004, we have been in recurring dialogue and warnings with these two media houses but they proved to be stubborn. They never respond to our letters, they refused to come for some training we had for journalists, they even refused to come for their journalistic cards. We used pedagogic approach because of the history of media in Rwanda, we believe someone can be helped to be better, but all that fell on deaf ears,” Mr. Patrice Murama the executive secretary of media high council also added. The commemoration of journalists who deceased in 1994 Genocide was alongside done with celebration of world press freedom. Despite several journalists expressed lack of resources- appealing government for support to improve, Minister Musoni challenged journalists to first refer themselves to their code of ethics. “If you have a goal, you can not dwell on your weakness but you optimise your potential, many of you never refer to your code of ethics which makes you fail your journalism here and there,” Mr. Musoni challenged. “You have forums where you can discuss these issues pertaining your profession but you don’t do it and most of your colleagues go with a lot of mistakes and put a negative image on your profession,” he added. An estimation from Media High Council suggest that between 70 – 75% of over 400 practicing journalists are not qualified which is the causes of unprofessional practices of journalism in Rwanda today. Before journalists gathered at Nyanza Genocide Memorial site, Hundreds of journalists from different media outlets had an expressional walk of 4 kilometres from ETO school to commemorate all journalists who deceased in 1994 Genocide.
 The commemoration of journalists lost in 1994 Genocide was also the beginning of the world press freedom week as the world press freedom day scheduled to take place in Muhanga at Kabgayi catholic university where there is a faculty of journalism. While commenting on press freedom in Rwanda, Mr. Amabilisi Sibomana a retired journalist who worked for state owned media during the last regime, warned journalists that if not ethical and careful media can be used wrongly and can destroy any society.