
Residents of Rukungiri district and the entire nation have been advised to reject what they consider to be false information broadcasted by one of the Rukungiri based Radio station, which claims that the International Day celebrations for Nurses and Midwives held in Rukungiri was not well attended.
Speaking with our reporter, some of the event organizers whose identities were withheld told us that the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union, which is made up of nurses and midwives, planned the event.
They invited only 200 guests, with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni scheduled to be the chief guest.
However, while he was in Kenya for official business, President Museveni assigned his vice, Jessica Alupo to represent him at the function.
One of Rukungiri-based radio station published an article headlined “Low Turnout at National Nurses and Midwives Event in Rukungiri Sparks Political Debate” following the event, which the organizers said went well adding that the article is false and should be disregarded.
They claim that 200 guests showed up, and they fed lunch for each of them as well as the nurses and midwives.
The Nurses and Midwives Union provided the funding for the event and the state did not contribute any funds, according to the organizers but only President Museveni was invited solely to officiate and listen to the union’s members’ concerns.
They criticized the claim made in the article itself that the Rukungiri district’s continuing political unrest was the main reason for the low attendance, arguing that the event was intended exclusively for nurses and midwives and their invited guests and was not politically targeted.
The Rukungiri district NRM chairperson, Security Minister Jim Muhwezi, is quoted in the same article as saying that the event was streamed live on local radio stations which is claimed to be false.
However, our sources indicate that the function was broadcasted at another Rukungiri-based radio station (Rukungiri FM 96.9 Fm) meaning that what is said in the other article is not true.
They added that a media house that publishes such news articles specifically aims to divide the Rukungiri people, advising them to ignore such material.
They also claim that since it was not politically organized, the accused media House did not need to bring politics into the event, which suggests that they wanted to draw attention from the public in an effort to win political favor because one of the directors appeared to be running for the Rukungiri district Woman parliamentary seat.