The Minister of ICT, Information and National Guidance Chris Baryomunsi has said that the government is not bothered by a section of Ugandans who have created a trend of posting things on social media in an attempt to cause embarrassment to those in charge.
Baryomunsi used the recent example of a campaign to expose the dilapidated roads in the city and country that was championed by cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo.
He said that whether people post on social media or not, the government is aware of what needs to be done and no one would lose sleep because of any bad images of the same.
“As the government, we know what we are supposed to do, whether you post it on social media or not. I will not lose sleep because a picture of a pothole has been posted on social media,” Baryomunsi said during an interview on NBS TV.
Baryomunsi now claims that such attempts are being driven by interests from external activists, paying Ugandans to blackmail their government.
“As a government, we wake up and go to the office early because we have to work for the people of Uganda. We know that there are some external activists that pay people to blackmail the government,” he said.
“You can’t say that simply because there are potholes in some parts of Kampala, all the roads in Uganda are like that. We all know there are parts with good roads. We have no problem with people exchanging information if it’s in good faith,” he added.
Baryomunsi said that it is not bad to highlight the situation of certain things in the country, but the “problem is if you do it for the wrong reasons like inciting the public, misinforming, and abusing others.”
