Paul Lwanga, the former right-hand man of Next Media CEO Kin Kariisa and a ruthless enforcer of his directives, has been fired from the media group after he allegedly brought pork onto the company’s premises.
Impeccable sources told Bbeg Media that Lwanga, who had been moved to Next Media Foundation, the charity arm of the media group, was shown his marching orders last week.
The circumstances leading to his dismissal were dramatic, some would say, sad.
Apparently, some time last month, Lwanga came with a food pack to the offices of the Foundation. Sources said the pack, among others, contained pieces of pork. Mind you, Next Media Foundation shares office space at Media Plaza with Salam TV and Salam Charity, which are run on the principles of the Islamic faith.
Lwanga was reportedly discovered devouring his dish by a staff member of Salam TV who alerted top management, including the managing director, Karim Kaliisa, an older brother to Kin Kariisa.
Kaliisa, sources say, escalated the matter to the board of Next Media, on which he sits, which decided to relieve him of his duties.
“He [Lwanga] was very apologetic, but what he had done offended many Muslims. Some people said he should not step anywhere near the offices,” one of the sources knowledgeable about the matter told us.
Another staff member wondered how and why someone of Lwanga’s standing would do something that he knew was a gross violation of the rules and ethics of the media organisation.
Effective June 2, Lwanga was officially informed that his services would not be needed, sources confirmed to Bbeg Media. Sources also told us that he had not shown up at the offices of the foundation for the last week.
Lwanga told Bbeg Media that his departure was not in any way related to pork (which he claimed he does not eat). He said he had accomplished his duties of setting structures for the foundation and, in any case, he was set to leave by June 30th.
“I also have a question. Of all that’s happening in the country, am I a priority? I am not a public servant,” he said.
However, our sources affirmed that the pork incident was the final straw that broke his back.
Lwanga joined Next Media in 2014 and rose through the ranks from Human Resources Officer to Chief People Officer, to Chief Operations Officer, and then to General Manager of Hillcom (a Next Media subsidiary).
Last year, he was removed from Hillcom and made head of Next Media Foundation, which many people saw as a falling-out of sorts with Kariisa. The foundation is yet to engage in any notable activity.
He had earlier been removed from Next Media’s Top Management Team (TMT), following the company’s restructuring of its management structure.
This decision was a clear signal that his grip on power had loosened.
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At his peak, as Chief People Officer, Lwanga was widely feared. Usually dressed in checkered shirts, a pair of jeans, and a Stetson hat, he would prowl the corridors, trading gossip and identifying “trouble makers.”
Yet most importantly, Lwanga was the chief enforcer of Kariisa’s decisions. Once given instructions by the boss, he would implement them unquestionably, sometimes clashing with other staff members.
But over time, sources said, the relationship between the two soured, leading to his demotion.
When he was made general manager of Hillcon, Kariisa reportedly gave him a revenue target of $50,000 per quarter, a bar too high. In the end, he failed and was replaced by David Nsubuga, who was headhunted from Blue Crane Communications, where he worked as Chief Technology Officer.
Lwanga’s eventual exit marks a sad end to a long journey which at some point times appeared as if it would last forever.
Once viewed as Kariisa’s blue-eyed boy, he has for years been central to personnel decisions and wielded considerable informal power.
