Samson Kasumba’s love for NBS TV and it’s owner, Kin Kariisa, is well documented.
In the wake of his two-week suspension after posts pouring cold water on the march to Parliament, a reader wrote, surprised by the decision: “I thought Kasumba owned shares in NBS TV. How can he be suspended?”
That question must have been on the minds of many people when we broke the story of his suspension.
https://bbegmedia.com/2024/07/24/samson-kasumba-suspended-over-tweets-on-march-to-parliament/
Over the years, Kasumba has arguably became NBS TV’s poster boy. When you run across him, what instantly comes to mind is NBS.
Kariisa has always lavished him with praise for his dedication. Kasumba, on other hand, has always had the confidence that the station will always have his back.
His love for NBS
In 2021, on his now discontinued twitter account, he posted that he did not see himself working anywhere else apart from NBS TV.
He is the only employee who regularly wears the NBS button on his jacket and will go to great length to protect the image and brand of NBS TV.
On his social media platforms, he has always come out hard after critics of the NBS, sometimes leaving Desire Mugumisa, the head of corporate Affairs with no work to do.
He once found a junior reporter tuned into NTV in the newsroom and he asked: “Why do you watch those failures?”
Perhaps he made the statement in jest but he could also have meant it.
Has NBS loved him back?
This does not mean, NBS has always loved Kasumba back.
Kasumba is not an easy person to hate. He is affable and generally wishes well for everybody.
However, his opinions and attitude have at times brought him into conflict with colleagues, most times over his opinions or attitude.
“The news manager does not like me, the HR hates him, so and so…” he would often say.
Yet like people who feel they have made it, Kasumba can stubbornly stick to his ways.
One time he was told that it was NBS style for anchors to wear bowties on set, he simply ignored the order.
Often, producers would tell him to reduce on the humour and jokes on the screen, but he would say that is what drew viewers to the bulletins he anchors.
Since he has always considered Kariisa as a “close friend”, Kasumba has always thought he can get away with many things and he has.
There are some people who would toast to Kasumba’s dismissal.
Yet when it comes to the suspension, some say Kasumba had forgotten Kariisa’s unpredictability.
At NBS, Kariisa’s word is law and his wishes can be commands.
Like President Museveni, you can’t know for sure whether you are his friend.
And like the president, no one is indispensable in Kariisa’s view.
Joseph Masembe, who restructured NBS TV’s marketing and sales department was so close to Kariisa that he even regularly borrowed his car. The two also used to hang out together on weekends. But once he failed to hit the revenue target, Kariisa mercilessly showed him the door. Tamale Mirundi’s show was so popular that managers used to wonder what would befall NBS if Mirundi left. Kariisa axed it and NBS survived.
These are incidents Kasumba ought to learn from as he serves the remainder of his suspension.
Kasumba clocked 50 this year and while he has often said he is willing to work at NBS TV until he dies, we don’t know whether the station can reciprocate the love.
