Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) is the

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

network of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. It was founded as a result of the "Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act, 2004", which merged the operations of Uganda Television (UTV) and Radio Uganda. It started broadcasting on November 16, 2005. The Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act stated that the UBC should be funded by the levying of a

television licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence ...

fee. Collection of a licence fee set at USh (around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

8.40 or

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

10.80) started in 2005. However, collection was subsequently halted by President

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

. There has since been pressure to reinstate the licence fee to maintain UBC's independence. UBC operates the UBC TV channel and five radio stations. Until May 2011, Edward Musinguzi was the managing director. He was fired along with all of the governing board for "massive corruption" involving unpaid salaries, the sale of land owned by the corporation, and advertisements sold during the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Location

The broadcast studios and main offices of UBC are located at 17–19 Nile Avenue, Nakasero Hill, in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city. The geographic coordinates of Uganda Broadcasting Corporation headquarters are: 0°18'59.0"N, 32°35'21.0"E (Latitude:0.316389; Longitude:32.589167).

Re-organization

When he assumed office in 2016,

Frank Tumwebaze Frank Kagyigyi Tumwebaze is a Ugandan educator and politician of the National Resistance Movement political party. He is the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, effective 8 June 2021. He previously served as Minister of G ...

, the Information and ICT Minister, established an ad-hoc committee to look into the affairs of the broadcaster. The ad-hoc committee found that UBC was in debt and had too many employees, whom it paid poorly and utilized them sub-optimally, among other infractions. A team was set up to address the short-comings. The pay-roll was reduced from 525 to 349 people. To weed out the 176 who need to be let go, all 525 members of staff were instructed to re-apply, if interested. Those who opt for retirement or early retirement would be provided with appropriate retirement packages. The changes, which are expected to take effect starting July 2018, are projected to reduce the wage bill from USh 4.5 billion (approximately US$1.25 million) annually to USh 3.5 billion (approximately US$955,000). In October 2018, the company hired Maurice Mugisha, formerly "Head of News Production" at NTV Uganda, to serve as its new Deputy Managing Director.

References

External links

Uganda Broadcasting Corporation2010 Report covering the history of the Corporation
{{Authority control Publicly funded broadcasters Government-owned companies of Uganda Mass media companies of Uganda 1953 establishments in Uganda 1963 establishments in Uganda Television channels and stations established in 2005 State media Organisations based in Kampala Companies based in Kampala