Rupiny is a weekly vernacular paper published in Luo by the New Vision in Lira for northern Uganda.
Chris Banya has been the Editor of Rupiny newspaper and has a very good record as far has performance is concerned.
He took editorship of the paper when it was facing collapse and selling 1,800 copies per week and broke his own record he set between 1999-2001 when he worked as editor for the same paper and later resigned. He was persuaded by former deputy editor-in-chief David Sseppuuya and the Human Resource Manager then, Eseza Byakika, to come and save the paper from collapse.
However, recently members of what has been described as "the NRM clique" within the New Vision cooked up a case to have him sacked. Chris Banya is contesting this in his letter to Madam Editor-in-Chief Els de Termmerman and Human Resource Manager Caroline Mboijana who signed his termination letter.
Radio Katwe got the letter which Chris wrote on Sunday 15 June to the bosses at New Vision pleading his case.
Subject: My termination
Dear Caroline/Els,
I want to thank both of you very much for very closely monitoring my performance for over three years I have served our lovely company. Thanks too, for having given me an opportunity to try to show people out there what I am capable of doing in the journalistic world although I am not a journalist by training.
Madam (s), the dust of my termination is now settling down and I am beginning to accept its reality, the first in my life and career. The thing I beg you to know is that I am not satisfied with your reasons for my termination (sacking) because I believe that if a matter of libel is contested by parties then the parties concern refer it to court to determine whether there was libel or not.
In my case, no court has determined any of the hundreds of notices of intention to sue and proved there were libel. This shows that there were other reasons for sacking me but libel was used as a coverup as other reasons could not easily be found.
Secondly, you have to believe that the people in the north are very difficult with wrong belief that the company has a lot of money, so if a story is written about an individual even with their comments, they still go ahead and and issue notice of intention to sue. The situation is aggravated by the increasing number lawyers who, because of the need to get money, sometimes mis-advise prospective clients to contest certain stories that apprear in the paper. Many such notices normally end there without any progress to courts of law. This is what I experienced in my 11 years working for Rupiny which you terminated five days ago.
I first worked as sub-editor when Rupiny was first founded in 1993 and later as editor for Rupiny between 1997-2001 before I resigned, we used to get very many notices of intention to sue but during my first eight years, there was no libel case that Rupiny lost, we did receive close to 100 notices of intention to sue but none of them progressed to court.
Since 2005 when David Sseppuuya and Eseza Byakika convinced me to come back (because of their prior knowledge of my past performance), Rupiny has not lost any libel case in court but like in the past, notices of intention to sue have continued to come.
I heard of course, that Rupiny did lose a case but that was after I resigned and by then it was James Odong in-charge.
My termination (sacking) without concrete evidence of a libel case(s) Rupiny lost during my time as editor has hurt my ego and feelings so much but if I can understand the real reason(s) for my termination (not a coverup or cooked up one), my ego and feeling will be repaired. Rupiny has never lost a libel case during my time as editor.
In northern Uganda people wrongly believe that they can sue a paper and get so much money. They have further been misled by the many marauding lawyers. It's therefore inhuman, at least to me, to terminate somebody's job basing on people's belief (wrongly or rightly), feelings and figments of imagination as one cannot stop them from doing so. You should from today learn and understand that notice of intention to sue is not the same as libel, or at least not outright unless determined by a competent court of law.
I am happy that I have been sacked when my achievements and records can speak for themselves. In 1999 or thereabout, Rupiny achieved its highest sales record then of 5,400 copies and this was me in charge. In 2007, we broke that record and set another at 8,459 copies. That was my work.
In 2005 when I was recalled, the paper was crawling with 1,880 copies, the lowest ever.
The coverup (framing) of libel as the reason for my termination when Rupiny is yet to lose one in my term has left me in a state of mental anguish, disbelief, trauma, loss of self belief and depression. My termination was premeditated and you know very well it was, because from day one you have been under pressure.
At least it's not libel and since it's not, I will be grateful to know what it is. Also get it from me that notice of intention to sue is not another name for libel, at least not outright.
I am yours obedient servant.
Chris Banya.
Radio Katwe comment:- Dear readers, it is more or less clear that Chris Banaya was not sacked because of the libel suits. The New Vision bosses are smart people and they know this. It seems he was doing his job, and if he wasn't, then at least he should have been given notice or an opportunity to explain his case. We have always invited Ugandans not to take injustices lying down. Thank you to the sources who brought this case to light.
In another case, word has it that when Barclays Bank bought Nile Bank, some officials in one or both banks (Nile/Barclays) took advantage of the problems arising from the merger and a lot of money disappeared from some accounts and up to now Barclays cannot trace it.
What we are still not sure of is, was this the usual Ugandan stealing "eating in kavuyo" or were these the classified accounts which we know State House used to keep in Nile Bank?
You remember when Radio Katwe reported in 2006 that the presidents PPS Amelia Kyambadde withdrew a lot of money which was part of the loot used to rig the 2006 elections from an account at Nile Bank. She was a signatory to the account.