NBS employees write final goodbyes after company swings axe

The notice that was dispatched by company Head of Corporate Affairs, Desire Derekford Mugumisa, notes that the management and board of Next Media had to make the difficult decision to have some employees step down from their roles with the company effective Wednesday, November 30, 2022.

It was not long after the notice was issued than some employees started posting farewell tweets on their timeliness.

Elijah Turyagumanawe, who has not only been a budding but also promising political and business reporter took to his twitter and bid farewell to the park.

“I enjoyed every second of my stay at the park. For the opportunity to gain social and technical skills through the regular news and entire organizational operations, much appreciated. Profoundly, it’s the process that matters. Regardless we move,” he tweeted.

A day before, senior health reporter Zahra Namuli had dropped the mic in a farewell tweet as well.

“It has been about 8 years of learning, unlearning and relearning. To all those that have been part of my journalism journey I cannot thank you enough. I am here to let you know my journey is coming to an end,” she tweeted.

Even before Next Media announced its mass lay off of workers, there was reportedly a mass exodus of workers with senior reporters such as Daniel Lutaaya calling it quits.

Early last month, lifestyle and radio personality Kanyomozi Rabwoni also called it quits at the company citing ideological differences as the cause of her exit.

Nile post editor Edris Kiggundu said his goodbyes yesterday following the announcement as well.

“5…4…3…2 My time is up at Next Media. Like Jade, an American RNB girl group sang in the 90s, 5,4,3,2…my time is up. Effective December 1, I will be leaving my post as editor of The Nile Post. The time has come for me to take the leap into the unknown.” He tweeted.

The ongoing shakeup at Next Media is major as it is trending currently at number one on Twitter.

Many who have posted their goodbyes thus far are getting positive feedback from their followers with colleagues that survived the axe also wishing them well in their next challenges.

Sources report that the most affected is the editorial department in which prominent figures such as Edris Kiggundu, Noah Kyeyune, Elijah Turyagumanawe, John Kibalizi and Fatia Nassali have been shown the exit terminals.

Next media is not the only company trimming its work force as Nation Media Group (NMG) which owns Daily Monitor, NTV, KFM and Dembe FM in Kampala as well as other media houses across the East African region, has reduced its workforce drastically as the media business shifts to the digital space to survive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.