Reports that Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has ordered Charles Odongtho to hand over office to former NTV Uganda reporter Francis Jjingo has prompted the former TV host to fire back, telling off the person who filed the story.
A report filed by a platform run by seasoned journalist Edris Kiggundu claimed that sources with in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) had indicated that Nabbanja had directed that Odongtho’s contract should not be renewed.
That Jjingo, who joined in April, should take over the communications functions that Odongtho has been executing since his recruitment in July 2024.
The other claim was that Nabbanja was unhappy with the former NBS TV Frontline show host and wanted him to pack out of the OPM.
The report further alleged that efforts by Odongtho to prevent his sacking had seen him attempt to meet Nabbanja herself but had been unable to meet the powerful politician from Kakumiro who was reportedly disinterested in meeting him.
The same report further claimed that some influential people from Odongtho’s home town of Nebbi were making attempts to meet Nabbanja to convince her to forgive their son and not to throw her out of office and render him jobless.
But Odongtho has fired back at Kiggundu telling him to stop listening to one-sided sources. Accusing Kiggundu of telling “too many lies” in his “many hateful copy and paste writings,” Odongtho warned that such sources would only make him a failure.
He further insinuated that he was a “miserable failed journalist” who was being paid to write bad things about him. Odongtho then told Kiggundu that OPM Permanent Secretary Dunstan Balaba had assessed his performance and gave him an impressive 89.2 per cent score.
He added that with such excellent performance, he did not see any reason as to why he should lobby since he is was aware that government jobs are retained on appraisal reports.
Odongtho challenged Kiggundu to make reference to official documents, evidence from the OPM, public service procedures or standing orders. He went on to say that he would no longer be quiet and patient with Kiggundu.
Threatening to soon come out and expose him with the “lots of facts” he says he has about him, Odongtho promised that the former Observer and Nile Post editor will “be embarrassed” when he finally begins exposing him.
Edris Kiggundu has in recent months found himself in trouble with some in or out of the media, some of them former colleagues, over his reporting on press issues.
Weeks ago, his tables were shaken after NBS TV’s Simon Kaggwa Njala told Kiggundu that he was fired from Next Media over incompetence after her (Kiggundu) claimed that Njala was a mediocre moderator who should not host powerful people like leader of opposition in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi, as reported Here.
On Francis Jjingo, he is just one of the many journalists who have left NTV Uganda for juicier jobs, with one former colleague joining a UN agency and other joining the US army, as reported Here and There.
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