UMI
directors thrown out of office by court.
The High court threw
out two directors of Uganda Management Institute (UMI) ,citing lack of
requisite academic papers. Judge Elizabeth Musoke, of the Kampala Civil
division, ruled that the appointment of Kasozi Mulindwa as Director Programmes
and Student Affairs (DPSA) and that of Deo Lukonji Bbosa as Director Finance
and Administration (DFA) was riddled with procedural impropriety. This was a dent to the good image of institution which
is known for teaching professionals in the country.
Kyambogo
university tuition scandal
What started as a tuition
crisis spilled into a strike which left at least one student injured. Students protested
against blacklisted by the university administration for failure to pay tuition
last academic year. Management alleged that the students forged documents such
as receipts and examination cards to illegally sit exams. Police instituted a
probe which revealed more rot at the ten year old university. There have been
several arrests and interrogation of senior management staff in connection with
the scandals at the institution.IGG picked interest in the case and started
investigating. Kyambogo University has been a nursery bed for scandals for some
time. This is beyond heated in-house wrangles. Chaos continuing to manifesto
even after the Vice Chancellor, Prof Isaiah Ndiege is on forced leave points to a deeper problem that needs urgent interventions.
Kyambogo University was also in the media over poor sanitation.
President
Museveni and his sack money
The two major
Newspapers carried a picture of the Busoga Youth Forum chairperson, Mr Sanon
Bwire, carrying a sack reportedly containing Shs250 million which President
Museveni had donated to the group. The action was a fulfillment of presidential
pledge but Critics argued that it was a manipulative move by the president.
Social critics disagree with the action because it breeds a culture that only
encourages laziness. The story showed Lack of goodwill on the side of
government regarding its priorities. Some people are suffering because there
are no drugs in health centres and the government
claims that there is no money. Pressure from the civil society upgraded this act
to a crisis phase two. There were media reports that the youth in Sembabule
District used the case to ask for their share as well. The act reflected President’s
lack of faith in systems that are meant to deliver services in the country. Museveni
was also faulted by activists for not following the set-out procedures of
fulfilling presidential pledges. The act was a bad PR stunt for the president though
it was a good strategy to show continuity with NRM even beyond 2016. Money in a
sack portrayed the disrespect for accountability and responsible spending. Some
officials have since been arrested over embezzlement 0f part of the money that
was donated to the youth.
Former
minster Musumba and Igara East MP held over extortion in India.
Former regional
minister Isaac Musumba and a businessman Yakuba Mathai were held in India for allegedly trying to extort US$20
million from four directors of electronics giant Videocon. The crisis deepened
when Musumba still possessed a diplomatic passport even when he was no longer a
minister which dented Uganda’s international image. Musumba and the colleagues
claim that Videocon had invested in a mining business in Uganda in 2009, but
the four directors suddenly wrapped up the business within six months, signed a
memorandum of understanding with the partner and left the country, duping
several investors.
Coca
Cola sues Riham over trademark infringement
Coca Cola has sued
Riham on allegations of trademark infringement. The suit [CS 213] filed on
April 24 seeks for an injunction
restricting Riham from further infringement on Coca Cola brand contents, and
shelving all products on the market which are purportedly considered as infringements.
The law suits impacts negatively on the reputation of Riham soda. Both brands
Riham Cola and Coca Cola products are said to possess similarities in relation
to brand colours, packaging, content, and names among others. The injunction
also seeks to stop Riham from producing products that are confusingly similar
to Coca Cola. Riham has since launched another product despite the law suit.
The Riham Cola soda bottle has since gone through remodifictaion.
Conclusion
With bad news, the best
move is to own up and apologise. The sooner the better. This gives you more
control of media coverage, and lessened the sting of media.Come clean and get past it. Monitoring media for crises is very
important. Companies should review media for crises on a
daily basis to plan for any latest developments and deal with them.
Ivan N. Baliboola
The author has worked with some of the most
well-known and influential East African brands, conducting marketing, Public
relations, strategies, crisis management, and social media. He is a proud Award winner of the prestigious Public
Relations Association of Uganda excellence Awards. He has volunteered
his life to addressing environment and health related causes. He is also a
blogger, professional critic, and strategist.
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