Journalists and Media Practitioners: New Media Accreditation Guidelines - A Deep Dive into New Regulatory Regime

What the report says

Nile Post reports that Uganda’s Media Council has gazetted the Media Council (Accreditation for Restricted Access) Guidelines, 2026, published in the Uganda Gazette on July 24, 2026. The article says the rules create a process for journalists and media practitioners seeking entry to restricted venues, government activities, major events, private functions or other settings where organisers require accreditation.

A central feature of the new framework, according to the report, is its attempt to separate event access accreditation from licensing or registration to practise journalism. Nile Post notes that, under the guidelines, failure to obtain accreditation for a particular event would not in itself bar a person from continuing journalistic work generally. The publisher frames this distinction as the Media Council’s response to earlier legal objections to compulsory accreditation.

The report places the development against the background of the 2021 High Court decision in Editors Guild Uganda Ltd. v. Attorney General. In that case, Justice Esta Nambayo found that the Press and Journalist Act did not give the Media Council authority to accredit journalists, and that practising certificates depended on enrolment through the National Institute of Journalists of Uganda, which the article says was defunct. The court also raised concerns about the Council’s composition and recognised compulsory accreditation as a potential restriction on freedom of expression.

Nile Post says the Council has since been reconstituted and argues that the new guidelines are designed to regulate access to specific restricted events rather than the right to practise journalism. For reporters, the practical effect is that state functions, briefings and large events may require formal accreditation, with an internal appeal route available where access is denied or accreditation revoked.