Top four Ugandan PR disasters - March 2013

PR is relatively a new profession in Uganda and as such people tend to relate it to propaganda. Few agencies and organisation have taken crisis management as a pivotal role of PR seriously. This list is not aimed at attacking individuals and organisation. It offers a professional PR insight into Crisis management in Uganda. I hope that Lessons shared can better the PR fraternity in Uganda. I commend the inclusion of Best Crisis Management Award category in the PRAU Excellence Awards. PR Practitioners need to stop leaving Crisis management to the legal departments. They should fully be involved.

1. Suspension of Fr Musaala by the Catholic Church.

Archbishop of Kampala Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga suspended Fr. Anthony Musaala, who authored a document criticising his Catholic Church colleagues in Uganda, accusing them of sexual crimes among others. Mismanagement of   Fr. Musaala‘s saga by Catholic Church put it in the media spotlight. The Archbishop was quick to suspend and give explanations without assessing the magnitude of the crisis. The Catholic Church prolonged the crisis when they over reacted. Fr Musaala would just be transferred to another place or a commission of inquiry publicly instituted but not sacking him. And going public about the move was wrong. As Christians who preach forgiveness, the idea of peace talks would be good. All efforts should always be done to stop crises from growing. It was a delicate time especially that the Pope was just settling in. According to the Archbishop Dr Cyprian Lwanga,Fr. Musaala was suspended for the document, which “damages the good morals of the Catholic believers and faults the church teaching”. Fr. Musaala admitted to authoring the document which widely circulated on the internet after being leaked. Fr. Musaala’s letter sparked public debate concerning celibacy in the Catholic Church. The saga also attracted enough media attention. He was hosted on highly rated shows and made it to the front page of daily Newspapers.

2.         Tullow oil‘s alleged bribe to President Museveni 

It was alleged that Tullow considered bribing President Museveni with $50million ahead of the 2011 elections. After several media reports, President Museveni issued a directive through his lawyers’ instructing Tullow Oil to respond within three days to the allegations. The story was an embarrassment to the president who is the fountain of honour. Tullow Oil later refuted bribery allegations and apologized to President Museveni. Tullow’s response was restricted because this court case against Heritage was still on-going. President Museveni has since instructed police to probe Oil bribery allegations made in a London court.

3.         Tullow pays expatriate Shs9m daily for a year

Tullow Uganda paid a one-man consultancy firm about Shs9 million per day for one year to teach its officials about “organizational effectiveness”, an investigation by a local newspaper revealed. Tullow Oil says the cost was borne by the Tullow group. Critics say ‘organizational effectiveness’ could have been taught by local consultants. The claims highlight the lack of goodwill because a lot of the expenses incurred by oil companies fall under “recoverable costs” that the oil companies can claim back from Uganda when the oil revenue starts flowing in. The report points  to  an old concern of     transparency in the Oil sector.

4.         Uganda court rules against Hima Cement 

On March 26, Justice Eldad Mwangusya took away Hima’s mining rights to limestone deposits in Kasese, western Uganda. The ruling affected its image and operations in a number of ways. The ruling invalidated all transactions and legal rights because Hima does not have a legal basis to carry out business in the country. East Africa Gold Sniffing was contesting a decision by the Ministry of Energy that restored Hima’s mining rights after the latter managed to secure an exploration license over the same area. Hima Cement went back to court and appealed against the ruling requesting for stay of execution.

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.

nbaliboola@gmail.com

Top five Ugandan PR scandals for April 2013

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.

nbaliboola@gmail.com