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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 nstitute !UM" #citing lac$ of
re%uisite academic papers& 'udge (li)a*eth Muso$e# of the +ampala ,ivil division# ruled that the
appointment of +aso)i Mulindwa as -irector Programmes and .tudent Affairs !-P.A" and that
of -eo /u$on0i 1*osa as -irector 2inance and Administration !-2A" was riddled with
procedural impropriet3& This was a dent to the good image of institution which is $nown for
teaching professionals in the countr3&
Kyambogo university tuition scandal
4hat started as a tuition crisis spilled into a stri$e which left at least one student in0ured&
.tudents protested against *lac$listed *3 the universit3 administration for failure to pa3 tuition
last academic 3ear& Management alleged that the students forged documents such as receipts and
e5amination cards to illegall3 sit e5ams& Police instituted a pro*e which revealed more rot at the
ten 3ear old universit3& There have *een several arrests and interrogation of senior management
staff in connection with the scandals at the institution&66 pic$ed interest in the case and started
investigating& +3am*ogo Universit3 has *een a nurser3 *ed for scandals for some time& This is
*e3ond heated in7house wrangles& ,haos continuing to manifesto even after the 8ice ,hancellor#
Prof saiah 9diege is on forced leave points to a deeper pro*lem that needs urgent interventions&
+3am*ogo Universit3 was also in the media over poor sanitation&
President Museveni and his sack money
The two ma0or 9ewspapers carried a picture of the 1usoga :outh 2orum chairperson# Mr .anon
1wire# carr3ing a sac$ reportedl3 containing .hs2;0 million which President Museveni had
donated to the group& The action was a fulfillment of presidential pledge *ut ,ritics argued that it
was a manipulative move *3 the president& .ocial critics disagree with the action *ecause it
*reeds a culture that onl3 encourages la)iness& The stor3 showed /ac$ of goodwill on the side of
government regarding its priorities& .ome people are suffering *ecause there are no drugs in
health centres and the government claims that there is no mone3& Pressure from the civil societ3
upgraded this act to a crisis phase two& There were media reports that the 3outh in .em*a*ule
-istrict used the case to as$ for their share as well& The act reflected President<s lac$ of faith in
s3stems that are meant to deliver services in the countr3& Museveni was also faulted *3 activists
for not following the set7out procedures of fulfilling presidential pledges& The act was a *ad PR
stunt for the president though it was a good strateg3 to show continuit3 with 9RM even *e3ond
201=& Mone3 in a sac$ portra3ed the disrespect for accounta*ilit3 and responsi*le spending&
.ome officials have since *een arrested over em*e))lement 0f part of the mone3 that was
donated to the 3outh&
Former minster Musumba and Igara East MP held over extortion in India.
2ormer regional minister saac Musum*a and a *usinessman :a$u*a Mathai were held in ndia
for allegedl3 tr3ing to e5tort U.>20 million from four directors of electronics giant 8ideocon&
The crisis deepened when Musum*a still possessed a diplomatic passport even when he was no
longer a minister which dented Uganda<s international image& Musum*a and the colleagues
claim that 8ideocon had invested in a mining *usiness in Uganda in 200?# *ut the four directors
suddenl3 wrapped up the *usiness within si5 months# signed a memorandum of understanding
with the partner and left the countr3# duping several investors&
oca ola sues !iham over trademark infringement
,oca ,ola has sued Riham on allegations of trademar$ infringement& The suit @,. 213A filed on
April 2B see$s for an in0unction restricting Riham from further infringement on ,oca ,ola *rand
contents# and shelving all products on the mar$et which are purportedl3 considered as
infringements& The law suits impacts negativel3 on the reputation of Riham soda& 1oth *rands
Riham ,ola and ,oca ,ola products are said to possess similarities in relation to *rand colours#
pac$aging# content# and names among others& The in0unction also see$s to stop Riham from
producing products that are confusingl3 similar to ,oca ,ola& Riham has since launched another
product despite the law suit& The Riham ,ola soda *ottle has since gone through remodifictaion&
onclusion
4ith *ad news# the *est move is to own up and apologise& The sooner the *etter& This gives 3ou
more control of media coverage# and lessened the sting of media&,ome clean and get past it&
Monitoring media for crises is very im"ortant& ,ompanies should review media for crises on a
dail3 *asis to plan for an3 latest developments and deal with them&
Ivan N. Baliboola
The author has worked with some of the most well-known and infuential East
African brands in construction, healthcare, Insurance, cosmetics, and banking. He
carries a wealth of experience in marketing, ublic relations, crisis management,
and social media. He is a proud Award winner of a prestigious ublic !elations
Association of "ganda excellence award. He has #olunteered his life to addressing
en#ironment and health related causes. He is also a blogger, professional critic, and
strategist.
nbaliboola$gmail.com
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