Communication in Uganda by Siraji Afeku Kassim, Munir ECD Primary School
In the 1960s, radios were not common. They were scarce and expensive and very few people had them. To listen to news, one had to go to the chief’s home or a rich man’s house. These were the only people who could afford radios. There was only one radio station, Radio Uganda and one Television Station, Uganda Television (UTV. Now, the situation has changed, radios have become very cheap and available in almost all parts of the country. You don’t even need to have electricity because they can work on batteries. There are even radios that you can wind like a clock. There are also many radio and TV stations. You can listen to news, announcements and music from these stations in several languages every hour. There is also a programme where you can call into the studio and discuss current affairs with the presenters. You will also get adverts, entertainment and government information on health or elections on TV.
Today, there is a radio in virtually every home. You can find a young child of four or five years tuning a radio. Televisions have several channels that you tune into. There are those that only broadcast religious programmes, while other stations have both religious and secular programmes. The talk show programmes have also become very popular. Sometimes some radio and TV channels are not very clear. This is because of poor signal reception, but when the aerial is adjusted; the user can get clear pictures and sound.
When my father bought a television set last year, my best friends came to our house to watch interesting programmes like cartoons, wrestling and sports. They enjoyed so much that when they went back home, they requested their father to buy them a television set. Their father accepted their request; he bought them a big flat screen. They now enjoy and even sleep in the sitting room.
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