Josephine Namakumbi, a news anchor and reporter, has been let go by Next Media as part of the company’s restructuring programme, multiple sources have told Bbeg Media.
Namakumbi joined Next Media in 2019 as a news anchor and reporter is so far the biggest name in the editorial department to lose her job. She has been anchoring the Amasegenjje, the Luganda news bulletin, on Fridays and some weekends.
However, along the way, sources say, she fell out with some editors and had been sidelined. Namakumbi, sources said, bid farewell to some friends. We have been told that she is going to concentrate on her toy business.
Alongside Namakumbi, the station also fired Prossy Kisitu, who joined it as a senior news producer (Luganda) in 2016. Kisitu made her mark at WBS TV in the late 90s and early 2000s as a news anchor and later, head of the Luganda news desk. Tonny Muwangala has temporarily taken over Kisitu’s duties.
Sources at the Naguru-based station said more people are set to leave, but management decided to handle the process in a piecemeal manner.
“They don’t want to sack like 20 people at a go because they fear this will cause alarm,” said a staff member at the station who is also worried about their fate. In 2022, the station fired more than 30 people, a move that led to a backlash in some circles.
More layoffs will be made after the Top Management Team returns from a residential retreat, which started on February 9 and will end on February 13th.
Tension at Next Media after employees are told to ‘prepare’ for layoffs
Namakumbi and Kisitu join Edwin Danze, the former head of marketing, and Melvin Kiyimba, who used to work under Afromobile, who left last week.
On its social media platforms and in the corridors at Naguru, the station has framed the exits as “voluntary” in part not to alarm advertisers and viewers.
In reality, they are anything but. Sources said the target employees are either told to resign or be fired. Those who ‘resign’ are then treated to a farewell party like in the case of Danze and Kiyimba.
