It appears to be that season for amending ‘constitutions’ and media owners and advertisers in the country will not let Parliament beat them to this melee. Under their umbrellas, Uganda Media Owners Association (UMOA) and Uganda Advertising Association (UAA), the parties have agreed to amend terms of engagement enshrined in a memorandum of understanding five years ago.
The development is a culmination of consultations among the parties (and not constituents like it was for MPs) that arrived at a decision the MoU, signed six years ago, needed amendments to check some of the challengers that have since emerged in their operations and relations.
On Tuesday in Kampala, there was no controversy as members of UAA and UMOA converged at Ibamba Restaurant to put pen to paper on the MoU.
In a statement, Nada Andersen, the chairperson of UAA—a self-regulatory association comprised of the creative, communication- advertising, digital and media agency companies in Uganda—said the [revised] Memorandum of Understanding will further enhance relations, provide detailed procedures between the parties, uphold their values and business promises and safeguard the communications industry at large.
UMOA is a self-regulatory association comprised of the media owners and media houses consisting of print and electronic media companies in Uganda.
UMOA chairperson Susan Nsibirwa (L) speaks at the signing event as Andersen looks on.
Explaining why the parties needed to ‘touch it’, Andersen said that, through the individual business relationships of their members, the parties identified common challenges in the performance of their obligations.
“These challenges come in the form of the engagement of business practices by some members and failure by members to meet their obligations with others under the media selling and buying contracts,” Andersen said in the statement.
“The initial UAA-UMOA Memorandum of Understanding was signed on June 21, 2011. Upon living it and executing it into practice, both parties have made significant observations and have called for amendments to the said MoU.”
At the meeting, there also was no surprises like Beatrice Anywar as the members unanimously agreed to fix loopholes in their engagements.
UAA explained that, in the amended agreement, UMOA and UAA have acknowledged working in partnership with each other through accreditation of their registered members to streamline and standardize the business practices of their members in respect to invoicing, payments, reporting and reconciliation.
Among its major objective, UAA performs a supervisory role over advertising practice and standards in the industry and also provides a critical lobbying bloc to ensure that the problems the industry faces are speedily and consistently addressed.
