July 2013 top PR crises in Uganda

Ugandas PR fraternity witnessed extraordinary scandals last month .These PR crises

dominated international media, traditional media, and online media.
1. Woman dies at IHK under unclear circumstances.
A senior Parliament employee, Remmie Wamala Nanono, passed on under uestiona!le
circumstances at "#$. %he did not li&e to see her !a!y !oy. This crisis pro&o'ed a de!ate in
parliament .(Ps agreed to set up an ad hoc committee to inuire into the operations of
pri&ate health ser&ice pro&iders following the death of Wamala.Wamalas close relati&es
uoted in one local Newspaper say her death should ha&e !een a&oided had the hospital
authorities ta'en an urgent decision to operate her since her cer&ix had opened up to four
centimeters, not wide enough to allow for normal deli&ery. #er family narrated that she
chec'ed into hospital with intense la!our pains, and following se&eral hours of trying in &ain,
she as'ed to !e operated on. The hospital authorities, howe&er, felt she should gi&e !irth
naturally !ut later died after she !led nonstop. The (inistry of #ealth was also tas'ed to
commission a study on the status of maternal health in the country for the purposes of
addressing the current challenges of maternal mortality and they are expected to report the
findings to Parliament in two months."#$ rushed to release a statement which was
insensiti&e. )et full release at Wamala died of a cause she wor'ed tirelessly to stop at "#$.
2. M! employee dies during Kampala "Jin#a Marat$on
William *dele, a ++,year,old wor'er with (TN Ugandas sales and distri!ution department
died in the course of a marathon from $ampala to -in.a. The e&ent was organised !y
$ampala #ashers and he was part of the /0,mem!er team representing (TN Uganda. The
internal communications coordinator (TN Uganda Wendy Angu 1eyo said that there was
an am!ulance and medical team from "nternational #ospital $ampala and e&ery attempt was
made to sa&e his life. This incident raises the uestion of mandatory medical chec'ups for all
marathon participants. This is not the first time someone has died during marathons. 2ritics
want mandatory medical chec',ups and a health certificate issued for marathon participants
3. %min Pas$a &ined 20m &or noise pollution
3min Pasha #ospital was in the media for the wrong reasons. "t was fined for noise pollution.
This was a dent on her image as a tourist destination in one way or another.
'. !(H% employees accuse $onoura)le *lupo o& tri)alism in appointing a
+irector
A section of wor'ers of the National 2ouncil of #igher 3ducation 4N2#35 petitioned the
"nspectorate of )o&ernment to in&estigate the 3ducation minister for her 6in&isi!le hand in
the selection of next 3xecuti&e 1irector. N2#3 staff noted that e&en after it emerged in the
preliminary stages that Prof (oses )olola had passed the inter&iews for the position. They
allege that (s -essica Alupo wants the entire process to fa&our Prof -ohn *puda,Asi!o.
(inister Alupo is tri!es mate with Prof *puda .The position of N2#3 executi&e director fell
&acant early this year following the retirement of Prof A!dul $aso7.Prof *puda is the acting
&ice chancellor of $yam!ogo Uni&ersity who is currently under in&estigations !y the "))
o&er alleged mismanagement of the institution
,. Masa-a .tan)ic /an- /ranc$ &aced closure 01er .$s'm +e)t
The (asa'a %tan!ic 8an' !ranch faces closure o&er a +, 9+:, ;<0 million shillings property
tax arrears. The !an' was !een gi&en se&en days to clear the accumulated de!t or face
closure. As corporate citi7en, it was a negati&e dent on their image. The notice issued !y
(asa'a municipality accused %tan!ic of accumulating the arrears o&er three years.
These allegations !y (asa'a (unicipality were refuted !y the %tan!ic !an' (asa'a Area
(anager -enipher Na77iwa. The area %tan!ic 8an' manager denied that the !an' owes the
di&ision any property tax
2. 3o1ernment in .$s10) election scandal
"t has !een alleged that NR( used pu!lic cash to fund polls. A senior official at the
(icrofinance %upport 2entre =td told PA2 4Pu!lic Accounts 2ommittee of Parliament5 that
the ruling party used taxpayers money to finance its campaign in >00; and >0// general
elections. The (r Rwa!u'u'u said while officially the %hs/0! was allocated to the
Presidential "nitiati&e on (ar'ets, in reality it !ecame a ?political fund@ designed to help
President (use&eni win the >0// elections. "t was disguised as a ?re&ol&ing fund@ to help
mar'et &endors and other small !usiness owners access credit. The committee heard that the
%hs/0! was part of the %hs;00! supplementary !udget appro&ed !y Parliament in -anuary
>0//. The ruling party used its numerical strength in Parliament to force through the appro&al
of that supplementary for what it said was ?emergency@ spending.
#e told PA2 that in >00;, officials in (inistry of Ainance used (%2 as a conduit to channel
%hsB! and that in the >0// polls, the %hs/0! which was released to the !eneficiaries, only
four days to the polling day 4Ae!ruary >9, >0//5, was another ?political fund@ whose
o!.ecti&e was to !uy the elections.?(%2 was a conduit. (r Rwa!u'u'u also referred to the
fund as a political fund, this fund was gi&en to &arious people and was not supposed to !e
refunded, it was a political handout from and the o!.ecti&e was to win the >0// elections
4. Rug)y Player dies on pitc$.
Player death ruins Uganda 2up mood. #e is said to ha&e collided with an opposing player for
which he was treated only to get !ac' to the pitch without the permission of the medical team
or the referee.
httpCDDwww.monitor.co.ugD%portsDRug!yDPlayer,death,ruins,Uganda,2up,
moodD,D;:0>E;D/:>>B/0D,D9wo0&t7D,Dindex.html
$is article strictly o&&ers academic insig$t meant to create a5areness a)out crisis PR
communication management. $ere&ore it s$ould )e used &or educational purposes and
not 1ie5ed as an attac- on institutions or indi1iduals. It o&&ers a pro&essional PR insig$t
into (risis management in Uganda 5$ic$ is still a young pro&ession. I $ope t$at 6essons
s$ared can )etter t$e PR &raternity in Uganda. I commend t$e inclusion o& /est (risis
Management *5ard category in t$e PR*U %7cellence *5ards. PR Practitioners need to
)e &ully in1ol1ed in crises &rom t$e start. $e 5riter assumes no responsi)ility &or
contrary interpretation o& t$e su)#ect matter $erein.
Ivan N. Baliboola
The author has worked with some of the most well-known and infuential East
African brands in construction, healthcare, Insurance, cosmetics, and banking.
He carries a wealth of experience in marketing, ublic relations, crisis
management, and social media. He is a proud Award winner of a prestigious
ublic !elations Association of "ganda excellence award. He has #olunteered his
life to addressing en#ironment and health related causes. He is also a blogger,
professional critic, and strategist.
nbaliboola$gmail.com