UCC Orders Red Pepper to Retract Nkutu Family Estate Story and Apologize

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has issued a directive to Red Pepper Online Publications, demanding the retraction of an article detailing a dispute over the estate of the late Christine Namubiru Nkutu. The order, signed by UCC executive director Nyombi Thembo, also requires Red Pepper to issue an unqualified apology to three implicated family members and to bolster its editorial verification protocols.

The complaint was initiated by Conrad Kirunda Nkutu, Sophie Nkuutu, and Martin Kintu, who argued that the article, titled “Blood, Billions & Betrayal! Ex Minister Nkutu Family Torn Apart in Shock Property War as Siblings Conrad, Sophie and Martin Gang Up Against Last Born, Accused of Hatching Butabika Plot Over Dead Mother’s USD10M Empire,” contained defamatory and unverified claims. They contended that private family matters were exposed without adequate public interest justification and that they were not given an opportunity to respond.

The UCC found that Red Pepper violated the Uganda Communications Act and related regulations by disclosing private family information without demonstrating sufficient public interest and by failing to solicit comments from those named in the story. While acknowledging that inheritance disputes can attract public interest, the Commission stressed that this did not grant the publication unrestricted license to reveal private details.

Red Pepper had denied the allegations, stating its reliance on court records, police documents, and multiple sources, and asserting the public interest nature of the dispute. However, the UCC concluded that the publication failed to justify the necessity of the private information disclosed and faulted the lack of pre-publication comments from the complainants.

This omission, the UCC stated, denied the affected individuals a chance to reply and compromised the article’s adherence to journalistic standards of accuracy, verification, balance, and impartiality. The regulator has ordered the immediate removal of the article from all online platforms and a prominent apology. Red Pepper is also prohibited from publishing similar content about the complainants without stringent verification and fairness checks.

Failure to comply could lead to severe sanctions, including license revocation and website blocking. The UCC also directed Red Pepper to provide evidence of its editorial verification measures within five days. The publication has since issued the required apology.

Source: The Observer (Uganda)