Lira – Radio owners and managers in Lango sub region have asked government to reduce taxes on imported radio equipment for rural broadcasters.
Under their umbrella Lango Radio Owners and Managers Association (LAROMA), these also called for revision of the annual licensing fees charged by the regulator, Uganda Communications Commission.
The appeal was made by Charles Chaku the new chairperson of LAROMA during the association’s annual general meeting for 2023 in Lira on Tuesday.
The meeting discussed the association’s strategic plan for the next three years and also deeply looked into the challenges being faced by the broadcast industry in Lango.
During the meeting, LAROMA elected its new executive that will steer the association for the calendar year 2024.
Those elected include; Charles Chaku as Chairperson, Donny Apio as Vice Chairperson, Bonny Otim Ogwal- Secretary General, Lazarus Okello as Administrative Treasurer, Kenneth Okello as Secretary for Publicity, and Fr Lawrence Sunday Ogwang as advisor.
The new chairperson asked the member radio stations to ensure that they enforce professionalism in their work as communication is a public good.
According to Chaku, more than 80 percent of people in Lango rely on information from radio stations thus urging the stations to always try their best to deliver credible and accurate information to the public. This he says will help avert the looming challenge of misinformation and disinformation fabricated by some unscrupulous individuals especially in the new media.
Ken Okello, the association’s secretary for publicity says the association has made significant strides in fighting the challenges faced by the industry including but not limited to irregular power outages, capacity building for member staff amongst others
Okello asked for continued cohesion amongst member radio stations in a bid to strive for the fast growth of the media industry in Lango.
Due to the increasing cost of operations faced by member radio stations, the association also revised their advertising rates as follows, spot messages UGX 10.000 per spot for local advertisers, Corporate/Institutional announcements UGX 20,000 per reading, Personal announcement/notices UGX 10.000 and death announcement at UGX 5.000 per reading.
