The Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC) has received a donation of 1.5 million Uganda shillings from Ker Kwaro Acholi Cultural Institution to purchase 30 branded press jackets ahead of Uganda’s general election.
Charles Akena, the NUMEC administrator, expressed gratitude to His Royal Highness Rwot David Onen Acana II for the support, adding that the press jackets will enable authorities to easily identify journalists in their line of work during this election period.
“This offer from a cultural institution will help our reporters to report freely without being mistaken by security agencies,” Akena said last week at the Ker Kwaro Palace, Gulu City.
The 2026 election period has been tumultuous, with heavy crackdowns and harassment of journalists and opposition leaders. At NUMEC, Akena noted, 10 journalists have faced assaults and torture while reporting.
“Let’s work together as one family in northern Uganda to see that we protect the peace in our region,” Akena said.
“Such support, like the one from cultural institutions, contributes to journalists involved in peaceful reporting after the election.”
Akena also urged journalists to prioritise “conflict sensitivity reporting and [also] focus on developmental issues”.
In his end-of-year message speech at his palace in Gulu City, the Acholi Paramount Chief, Rwot David Onen Acana II, urged the media to disseminate “peace messages,” adding that other stakeholders, such as religious leaders and politicians, should “emulate the same” instead of getting embroiled in petty fights.
NUMEC member Simon Wokorach, who is also attached to the Uganda Radio Network and The Cooperator, lauded the Ker Kwaro Institution. He added that the partnership between NUMEC and Ker Kwaro Acholi Cultural Institution is a huge boost towards supporting press freedom in northern Uganda.
“This is a big blessing to our work as we prepare to cover the 2026 general elections in Uganda,” he said. “The press jackets may not protect us 100 per cent…but it will make it easy for us to be identified from far distances unless one is being targeted.”
Desire Alimocan, a freelance reporter contributing to Radio Pacis and Uganda Radio Network (URN), reiterated that the press jackets will enable the security officials to easily identify journalists, especially female reporters, “because they are the most vulnerable”.
NUMEC is a non-partisan media development organisation founded by journalists and media professionals in Gulu, Northern Uganda. The membership-based media entity was conceived to revitalise the media terrain in war-scarred northern Uganda to catalyse peace recovery, reconciliation, and development by promoting media freedom and access to information.
