On the morning of Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Claire Nassali Mugabi, as always, woke up to prepare to go to her workplace.
She made a pick of clothes she was going to wear (she favoured Orange tops), applied her usual thick red lipstick.
As she was heading out of her house, a WhatsApp message flashed on her phone. It did not carry good news.
“Your contract has been terminated. You are required to come to the office and hand over everything in your possession. It is urgent,” part of the message read.
Nassali was the Marketing Manager of Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). The message was from her boss, Lilly Ajarova, the chief executive officer of UTB.
She froze momentarily and, once in her car, nearly failed to start it. It would be the final time she would enjoy the ride in the company car.
Nassali was aware that there was an ongoing investigation into the authenticity of her academic qualifications after a whistleblower alleged that she had forged some of her academic documents.
The matter had come to the attention of Ajarova. However, she had not been summoned by her or the board to defend herself.
When she made it to the UTB offices on the sixth floor of Lugogo House, along the Lugogo By-pass, she anxiously dashed into Ajarova’s office.
Ajarova told her to hand over all the UTB equipment (including the car), Identity Card, Health Insurance Card, and any document that belonged to the tourism body.
“Good luck on your next endeavor,” Ajarova told her. “And don’t forget to close the door on your way out.”
“But madam…” she tried to plead her words trailing off.
“Bye”, Ajarova insisted, cutting her short. A now tearful Nassali did as she was told. She went back to her office, packed her personal belongings, and handed the UTB property in her possession to Ajarova.
Her security clearances were immediately terminated.
Two days later (May 30), Ajarova sent an email to staff officially communicating that Nassali was no longer an employee of UTB. Many employees were shocked because they thought the two were tight work buddies.
“We thought they were besties always sharing jokes,” claimed an insider in UTB. Nassali and Ajarova looked alike and often dressed in similar outfits.
Nassali was determined not to go down without a fight since she felt that she had been unfairly dismissed without following the due procedures.
In the following days and months, she consulted some of her lawyer friends who all told her she had a firm case.
Enter Court
She then filed a case in the civil division of the High Court seeking a judicial review of the decision to terminate her contract.
In court, her lawyer, Maureen Mirembe, argued that Ajarova single-handedly terminated Nassali’s contract without the involvement of the board of directors as required under Clause 7.3 of the UTB Human Resource Manual.
“She overstepped her authority and deprived Nassali of the protections and procedures intended to solve such grievances,” Mirembe submitted.
But James Zeere, UTB’s lawyer, countered that Nassali should have first exhausted the internal mechanisms before running to court, to which Mirembe replied that the existence of these mechanisms does not stop her client from seeking the court’s intervention.
After weeks of arguments and counterarguments, Justice Esta Nambayo delivered her ruling last week. She agreed that Nassali’s contract had been unfairly terminated and therefore she had a strong case.
“The Applicant [Nassali] has been out of employment. She was humiliated when she was dismissed by WhatsApp communication, and all staff were notified. She was blocked from accessing her office. I find that all the above actions caused injury to the Applicant’s self-esteem,” she ruled.
Nambayo awarded Shs 5 million to Nassali as general damages and ordered that she be reinstated as marketing manager at UTB. She will also be given full pay from the date of her dismal.
Meanwhile, Ajarova’s contract expired early this year, and UTB is looking for her replacement.
So what became of the so called investigation into her questionable academic papers?