Joseph Kigozi’s future at Next Media hangs in balance after a consultant recommended to management that the position of deputy CEO be scrapped from the management structure, impeccable sources have told Bbeg Media.
Our sources told us that management had adopted this position and at the moment, Kigozi has no defined role at Next Media.
“I think they will try to fix him somewhere but there is no longer the position of deputy CEO,” said the source, a board member.
Yet whatever new role Kigozi is given is likely to be viewed as a demotion of some sort.
“If you have been deputy CEO it means that you are second in command. In the new role you may find yourself five steps from the CEO,” our source said.
Another senior manager at Next Media told Bbeg Media, anonymously, that Kigozi had been asked to lead the Marketing department but he declined.
We have been told that Kigozi is unhappy about the changes.
He has not stepped at Next Media in the last two weeks.
It is more than three weeks since Kigozi last posted news about Next Media on his social media handles which is uncharacteristic of him. That was on January 8 when he posted about Next Media’s sponsorsphip of the the 14th edition of the Rotary Cancer Run.
Since then he has been posting consistently about his soccer academy.
Kigozi speaks out
Speaking to Bbeg Media, Kigozi said he was on annual leave.
He said he was aware of the changes and was not surprised by the recommendations of the consultant.
“Being deputy CEO was not my main role. I was Chief Strategy Officer and General Manager NBS Sport,” he said.
Asked if he was still a staff of Next Media, Kigozi was non-committal.
“I have not been sacked, I want you to make that clear in your story,” Kigozi said.
“But the company will make a formal communication next week [about my role].”
Kigozi joined Next Media in 2010 as a sports analyst before joining the Marketing department. He left in 2016 and joined BBS TV as Chief Executive Officer. Less than two year later, he returned to NBS TV as deputy CEO and Chief Strategy Officer.
