PSST at The Uganda National Journalism Awards (UNJA) Gala
UGANDA NATIONAL JOURNALISM AWARDS 2024
The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Ramathan Ggoobi has applauded the Media for playing a critical role in promoting nation building, economic development and accountability.
The PSST made the remarks while officiating at the 2024 Uganda National Journalism Awards (UNJA) Gala at Mestil Hotel, Kampala.
UNJA is a flagship initiative of the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) established to recognize good journalism in Uganda.
154 journalists participated in UNJA 2024 in various reporting categories including: Agriculture, Business, Economy and Finance, Education, Health, Religion and Sports.
Other entries were in Justice, Law & Order reporting, Public Accountability reporting, Public Works and Infrastructure reporting and Science and Technology reporting among others.
The PSST said government without the media is chaos, adding that in an ideal world, media and the state should be friends not adversaries.
"You put forward viewpoints and opinions and expose the abuses, said Ggoobi, adding that the media needs to deal with misinformation and outright abuse of the power they have.
He particularly commended the media for supporting government in the fight against corruption, calling upon the 4th estate to always engage the Finance Ministry as a trusted source of information about the economy.
The PSST said Uganda's economy has fully recovered from the various shocks, crises and false alarms, noting that the growth is good and is projected to get better.
He said inflation remains contained within the target rate, adding that the Uganda shilling and interest rates have also remained relatively stable.
Ggoobi called upon the media to support government in implementing the tenfold growth strategy, to grow the size of the economy to USD 500 billion by 2040.
" I want to thank the African Centre for Media Excellence for not only organizing these awards but also continuously improving the media landscape in the country," said the PSST.
He congratulated all the winners and challenged them to continue practicing responsible journalism.
Some of the winners are: Mary Karugaba and Henry Ssekanjako, New Vision (Political reporting), Hakim Wampamba, NBSTV (Energy and Natural Resources Reporting), Ismail Musa Ladu, Daily Monitor (Business, Economy and Finance reporting) and Esther Oluka, Daily Monitor (Inspiring female journalist of the year).