Next Media has told Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi that he will no longer host the Frontline talk show on NBS TV after the veteran journalist revealed he will contest for the Burahya County parliamentary seat in Kabarole in the 2026 election.
Sources have told Bbeg Media that Mwanguhya had written to management indicating that he will leave at the end of March to concentrate on his political bid in Burahya, Kabarole district.
But after Zambaali Bulasio Mukasa and Victoria Bagaaya were suspended this week for similar reasons, management thought it would only be fair to also let Mwanguhya go.
Next Media suspends Zambaali, Victoria Bagaaya over political ambitions
The events leading to Mwanguhya’s exit were dramatic, insider sources have told us.
Within hours to the start of the show yesterday, Mwanguhya, who was at the barber’s having a haircut, was reportedly telephoned by a producer and told that he would not be the day’s host.
He rushed to Naguru and tried to make his case before management to allow him host the show at least until the end of March but he was not successful.
He then reportedly drove out of the company premises cursing under his breath.
Unlike Zambaali and Bagaaya, Mwanguhya was not a permanent staff at Next Media. He was paid per show.
In the interim, Mwanguhya has been replaced by the bespectacled Simon Kaggwa Njala who hosted the show yesterday.
Mwanguhya contested in Burahya in 2021 as an Indepedent but lost to Stephen Kasaija Kagwera of the NRM who garnered 32,894 votes. He emerged second with 17,081 votes.
Sources have told us that in 2026, Mwanguhya intends to contest in the NRM primaries because he believes it will give him a better chance at success this time given the party’s popularity in the district.
He has already started ingratiating himself with the NRM in his bid to win its ticket, sources told us.
