Top 7 Ugandan PR Scandals That Rocked April 2015

8/9/2019 Top 7 Ugandan PR Scandals That Rocked April 2015

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Top 7 Ugandan PR scandals that rocked April 2015.

1. Africell Telecom shocks on alleged racism and poor employee relations

Africell Telecommunication Company Uganda got entangled in online negative publicity just as

it continues to rebrand from orange. This was after Africell Uganda TelecommunicationCompany laid off 59 Ugandan workers and allegedly replaced them with ebanese nationals.

This fueled racism discussions. This was a rather bad time as it coincided with !enophobic

attacks in "outh Africa. The "tory alleged that those who were fired were not given satisfactory

e!planations raising concerns of poor employee relations. A disgruntled employee is more

dangerous than competition in disrupting company operations.

This crisis went viral because it was in the court of public opinion which reacts with emotions

not logic.A Ugandan website leaked an email communication between Africell Telecom Uganda

and a renown Ugandan Communication specialist "imon #aheru. "imon was on board to

manage their organisational change communication needs. $eople started attacking "imon#aheru. "imon #aheru should however be credited for his e!pert response during the trying

time. %e was consistent with his communication and his responses were not out of anger. %e

intellectually challenged those with racism evidence to come forward.

Africell has not bothered to e!plain itself e!tensively on the matter. Africell failed to give

detailed responses to allegations. &ailure to use their information to counter react to all the

allegations just prolongs the crisis. 't could give a round figure of terminal benefits paid and

when. They released a statement on their &acebook page which was not dated or signed off by

any Africell Uganda manager. Africell Uganda Telecommunication &acebook page describes the

recent racist allegations as ridiculous and preposterous.The crisis has given rise to other badtheoretical stories on the telecom(s operations. There are also rumours online about Africell

Uganda considering closure or buy out. Africell Uganda has since responded and said it is still in

Uganda. "ome people have started to push for boycott of products from Africell because of the

crisis..

2. KA tractor kills child

Another )*year old child was knocked dead by a #CCA tractor in lugala. The driver was on

phone when the incident happened. #CCA driver was $atrick wasswa. This story was on the

mighty +Agataliko ,fufu( news on -ukedde T. The #CCA management moved fast and

resolved the issue by through communication .#CCA sent support for the burial with its team.

ast year another baby was killed by #CCA vehicle in its premises.



!. "omen stripe to protest against ministers presence

and dispute in northern Uganda attracted debate in April when elderly female residents of

Amuru district stripped naked before government officials. This was to protest against

government plans to demarcate boundaries between the districts of Amuru and Adjumani. The

contested land has also been claimed by the /ildlife Authority has not eased tensions.ands0inister 1audi 0igereko and 'nternal Affairs 0inister 2en Aronda ,yakairima visited a

disputed boundary area to resolve the crisis .The women said the move would to push them out

of their ancestral land.0inister 0igereko later assured residents that the government has no

hidden*motive .3uelling the storm further4 0inister 0igereko announced that they had cancelled

the erection of the boundary mark stones.

#. UR$% on the spot o&er do'(le company registration

A ocal daily reported that Uganda egistration "ervices -ureau 6U"-7 egistrar 2eneral

-emanya Tweba8e acknowledged that he had received several complaints of fraud and erroneousCompany registration. The double registration came to light as bids for the tendering process for

the supply of "tabili8ed 'nterlocking -lock 0aking 0achines for the 0inistry of nergy and

0ineral 1evelopment. According to the registration of Companies Act4 no two similar

companies can be registered at the same time.The Uganda egistration "ervices -ureau 6U"-7

is on the spot over registration of two companies operating under the same names. The two

companies in :uestion are %ydraform 6U7 imited and %ydraform 6Uganda7 imited. They both

deal in interlocking stabili8ing block making machines 6'""-7 are dully registered and operating

in the country.Apart from the registration numbers being ;<=><9 and later being ;?959? and the

directors being different4 they bare the same names.

5. King oyo challenge

This was a crisis of sorts depending on how you look at it.There was one viral image of #ing

@yo greeting the -uganda #atikkiro Charles peter 0ayaige while cross*legged./hat made it

worse was the fact that the youthful king seemed not to pay attention. The incident was during

#abaka onald mutebi(s >th birthday celebrations .This incident got B#ingoyoChallenge as

its hash tag. Celebrities and members from the public posed the same way and posted their

pictures. 't was reported that Toro #ing4 @yo ,yimba #abamba 'guru also took his own

challenge during his birthday celebrations by greeting a friend while looking away. "ome critics

felt katiikiro is the outside king and needed to be respected. -eing a youthful king4 some felt his posture was disrespectful.

). Athletics coach arrested o&er alleged rape

Ugandan police arrested an athletics coach /emali for allegedly raping three teenage female

national runners. Alleged se! abuse scandals damage the country(s image.The crisis came to light

after Uganda(s Commonwealth gold medallist 0oses #ipsiro shared complaints from female



teammates against $eter /emali. /emali is said to have advised them to get pregnant and then

abort so they could run better. The Uganda Athletics &ederation 6UA&7 has been accused of

cover up by activists. Coach /emali allegedly used vulgar language during training with female

runners. Uganda police has since suspended him pending investigations. /emali maintains he is

innocent.

7. Pension $aga taints the image of Uganda Police.

ocal newspapers reported about the $ension saga. $olice officials are on the spot over

irregularities on authenticity of reports on the scandal. Uganda $olice has been accused of failing

the shs ;>5b case after they reportedly received a bribe from the culprits. The C''1 team which

investigated the matter filed two conflicting reports. C''1 chief 2race Akullo filed a different

report. The matter has since attracted public outcry

-oth the 'nspector general of police and the director of public prosecutions have vowed to

pursue the case to its conclusion. Uganda police $ machinery released a statement on theincident. $olice clarified in a press release that while the court case was dismissed4 it was on a

technicality and not on absence of substantive evidence. The $olice investigation of the case was

thorough and comprehensive according to Uganda police. +"trong evidence in form of witnesses

and e!hibits is available. 'n fact4 the office of the 1irector of $ublic $rosecutions 61$$7 and the

$olice are working together to ensure that the case is reinstituted.( eads the police statement

*&an .+.%ali(oola

PR and organisational diagnosis specialist

nbaliboolagmail.com

nbaliboola.wordpress.comD,isclaimer.

This article strictly offers academic insight meant to create a-areness a(o't crisis PR

management in Uganda. Therefore it sho'ld (e 'sed for ed'cational p'rposes and not

&ie-ed as an attack on instit'tions or indi&id'als. The -riter ass'mes no responsi(ility for

contrary interpretation of the s'(/ect matter herein.

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Top 7 Ugandan PR Scandals That Rocked April 2015