Ugandan media oppose a proposed law that will allow the state to shut down newspapers and jail journalists for articles said to undermine national security as an attempt to purge critical voices ahead of elections next year.

Ugandan president Museveni is set to stand for another term but is facing fierce criticism for what opponents see as increasing autocracy and a stranglehold on democracy.

Under the Press and Journalists Amendment Bill 2010, which is currently before cabinet, the Media Council will have powers to promptly shut down a media house if it is deemed to have published content that endangers "national security, stability and unity".

All media houses will also be required to apply for an operating license that will be renewed annually.

The law will also ban publication of material hostile to Uganda's diplomatic relations with neighbours or seen to sabotage the country's economy, the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) said in a statement.

"This bill seeks to destroy critical and independent journalism by giving the government the power to determine what is fit to print and what is not," said an editorial published jointly in major newspapers on Monday. "This bill is more than an attack on press freedom. It is an attack on our collective right, as Ugandans, to the truth and to the information we need to be free and self-governing."
  
Tervil Okoko, coordinator of media freedom, advocacy and research at the EAJA, said the media law implied that if "a media house does not do what the Media Council believes is right, they risk having their licenses withdrawn, a scenario that is raising more questions as Uganda heads into the election year in 2011."

There was no immediate comment from the government.

source: Reuters