DEAN LUBOWA SAAVA: Here Is What UCC Boss Nyombi Thembo Wants Ugandans to Know About the Difference Between Personal Vendetta & the Commission Merely Doing Its Regulatory Work

DEAN LUBOWA SAAVA: Here Is What UCC Boss NOn 24th December, UCC Executive Director Hon Nyombi Thembo posted a message on his X in reference to the private meeting he had had with close family members of the jailed journalist and online broadcaster Dean Lubowa Saava. Nyombi Thembo, who months earlier had endured online attacks by Saava, hosted them at his UCC offices at Bugolobi.

In his post, the UCC ED revealed that he and Saava (who Since September has been in prison for allegedly breaching the law regarding the need for all broadcasters to be authorized through acquisition of a broadcasting license) had known each since 1995.

He made it clear that even when that is the case (them being friends), there is now nothing he personally and single-handedly can do to get Saava out of his current predicament. He made this clear to the family members who came to his office, which partly explains why it wasn’t an entirely easy meeting.

He made it clear to them that the law, under which Saava is being prosecuted (namely for continuing to conduct broadcasting operations without the relevant licensing and authorization even after the Commission contacted had cautioned him several times) can’t be “replaced or altered” by mere friendship or past associations.

The UCC ED explained to the family (and went on to use his X post to make the wider public) know that he personally has nothing personal against Saava and that he isn’t in prison because of retaliation by him as one of the people he made to be aggrieved through his controversial broadcasts. Thembo dismissed such claims “as false narrative.”

He implied that as a holder of a public office, he is okay with being criticized and he expects a lot of time all the time. He added that if whoever criticized him or any other holder of public office ended up being jailed, Luzira and other Ugandan prisons would be full of such suspects.

He made it clear to the family that once the matter gets entered into the criminal justice system and trial commences, as has been the case with Saava since September, such matters cease to be wholly resolvable through “goodwill or forgiveness,” which some Saava sympathizers have been demanding of him as UCC boss.

That as the regulator, UCC’s hands are now tied because the Commission is obliged to respect Court processes and the attendant independence and autonomy of such state institutions. Thembo also observed in his X post that: “leaders must resist the temptation to personalize institutions.” He implored Saava’s family members to accept that reality, inspite of the extreme torment and detriment his absence (as the breadwinner for the home) has caused them-and continues to.

He described the situation at Saava’s home using the following text: “A family under strain, children missing important school moments and a home feeling the absence of its head; these are the quiet consequences that rarely trend online yet they hold the highest cost.”

Having gotten touched and reflected on the deprivation such unforeseen absence of the breadwinner can have on a family, Hon Thembo (in his personal capacity and not as UCC ED) reached out and “prepared a Christmas package for the family.” They walked away with this package at the conclusion of their private conversation with the UCC ED on Tuesday 23rd December.

The ED further explained that: “This gesture was not a statement on the case or an act of interference [in the ongoing Court trial] but a simple human show of compassion. It’s possible to enforce the law firmly while still acting with kindness. It’s possible to support institutions and recognize pain simultaneously. It’s possible to be steadfast without being hard-hearted.”

Nyombi Thembo also notified the family that he remains open to extend an olive branch and personally reconcile with Saava and possibly work together again-but that can and will only be possible after the ongoing Court process, which he isn’t prepared to interfere into because he simply has no means to do so, has been concluded.

He was clear and emphatic that there is nothing he personally can do about the ongoing trial of Saava at the Makindye-based Utilities, Standards & Wildlife Court. He justified this olive branch he intends to keep in place, to once again accommodate Saava, in the following phrase: “[Once this chapter of Court concludes], I remain open to reconciliation and constructive engagement. Accountability should never close the door to reform or growth.”

His parting shot was that no one ought to ride on Saava’s current adversity to proclaim victory. That what the outspoken online broadcaster has been through since September should serve as a reminder to all similarly-placed online media broadcasters “that laws exist for a reason, that digital platforms bear real responsibility and that behind every case file are real people, real families, children and futures.”

Thembo made it clear that holders of public office, like him, are charged with “duty to protect the public interest while maintaining [their] humanity.” He concludes with “striking that balance is never easy but its always necessary.”

All said and done, the major take away from all this is that Nyombi Thembo wanted to make it clear that where the trial process has reached, Dean Lubowa Saava’s fate now squarely lies in the hands of Court and how his ongoing trial at the Utilities Court eventually gets concluded. And that there was once an opportunity to mend fences, to de-escalate things, but which was never utilized when it was still possible.

Instead, matters escalated with the defiant Saava getting arrested, arraigned and charged with offences relating to illegal and unauthorized installation of broadcasting equipment and going on to conduct the actual broadcasting, which defiantly went on even after the Commission had sent in written notifications imploring the broadcaster to immediately comply with legal requirements.

At the conclusion of Tuesday 23rd private engagement at Bugolobi, Saava’s family members appreciated Nyombi Thembo for the unexpected generosity, largeness of the heart and compassion that he personally exhibited towards them on the Christmas eve, in the continued absence of their breadwinner.