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Publications by Author: Jim Ocitti

2010
Ocitti, Jim. 2010. Oteka Okello Mxoka Lengomoi: A Legend Among the Acholi of Uganda. Sahel Books Inc. Publisher's Version Abstract
Dr. Jim Ocitti is the author of two highly acclaimed books on Uganda: Political Evolution and Democratic Practice in Uganda 1952–1996 and Press, Politics and Public Policy in Uganda: The Role of Journalism in Democratization, both published by the Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY. He has served as a Senior Communication Advisor to the United Nations and worked as a Journalist in Uganda, Germany and the Netherlands. Dr. Ocitti obtained his PhD from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and attended Harvard University as a Postdoctoral Fellow in International Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He was also a Fellow in International Affairs at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. In this book, he traces the life of one of the most illustrious military and political leaders in Acholi of Northern Uganda at the intersection of history between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by illuminating the man's contribution to social change in Northern Uganda during the malleable early phase of colonial rule in the area. This book illuminates the life of Oteka Okello Mwoka Lengomoi, a legendary figure in the history of Acholi of Northern Uganda between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book traces Mwoka's life from early childhood to his elevation to the position of Oteka, or military commander, of the Chiefdom of Puranga and narrates his relationship with key socio-political figures within the region, such as the king of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, major chiefs in Lango and Acholi, and the British colonial authorities. The book shows Mwoka's various levels of contribution to social change in Acholi within the British colonial setting, as he became the single most important and dependable local leader for the British in their imperial designs in the area. It documents the circumstances under which the Oteka was assassinated and the implication of his demise on Acholi politics and society. It shows how, in the wake of his death, many of his children and grandchildren rose to various levels of influence within Acholi and Uganda. The book ends with a brief narrative of the history of the Chiefdom of Puranga from which Oteka Okello Mwoka Lengomoi originated and of which he was a principal player.
2005
Ocitti, Jim. 2005. Press Politics and Public Policy in Uganda: The Role of Journalism in Democratization. The Edwin Mellen Press. Publisher's Version Abstract

This book explores, through the lens of history, the dynamics between the press, politics, and public policy in Uganda. It illuminates and documents the various tensions and struggles for press freedom in the country since the establishment of the first newspaper in 1900. The book demonstrates that, despite Uganda's brush with multiple political systems over the decades—multiparty, one-party politics, military rule and no-party political arrangements—the press has always been at the receiving end of the stick. Consequently, journalists, in their yearnings for a legally unrestrictive media-free environment under a liberal socio-political atmosphere, have had to deploy various methods and approaches in dealing with the various state apparatuses.

1999
Ocitti, Jim. 1999. “Media and Democracy in Africa: Mutual Political Bedfellows or Implacable Arch-Foes”. Abstract

It is nearly a decade since most African countries embarked on what Samuel Huntington has popularized as the "third wave of democracy". The proliferation of political institutions, the liberalization of the economic and political landscapes, the regularity of elections hitherto unheard of in certain African countries, and a decline in military coups in the 1990s, have all signaled that a momentum towards democratic consolidation on the continent is on the increase. Yet, these formalisms of procedural democracy have also concealed a much more profound pattern of declining press freedom on the continent, as African governments, under the guise of constitutional rule, have resorted to the enactment of suppressive laws against an increasingly critical media. In most of the new democracies, as this paper attempts to show, new parliamentary bills that are hostile to the media, are increasingly being promulgated, and this includes countries that have traditionally been considered democratic. This paper posits the question that, given this evolving trend, and considering that the media is the mirror of society?s freedom, can we authoritatively conclude that democracy is gaining momentum in Africa?

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