By Frank Gashumba
Michael Ssebbowa of Bukedde, what do you want from me? A clarification on a story that ran in Bukedde Newspaper of Tuesday, 26th January, 2016 blackmailing and defaming the name of Frank Gashumba. The headline was; “We gave Gashumba Money and he failed to take us abroad.”
I don’t usually respond to what has been written about me in the news because I have lots of things to do such as changing people’s lives, development and helping people gain self-belief. However basing on Bukedde’s level as a Newspaper, I hoped that they could differentiate between founders of a company and managers of a company. It is true that I am one of the directors of Sarafina Skills Services. I am one of the founding directors. We started this company in 2009 and its job was to help people get employment in and outside Uganda. This was because we’d realized that many people don’t have jobs. Many are my witnesses. Ever since Sarafina opened its doors, 1071 people have gained employment and we believe they are happy, so are their bosses.
When we started this company, we chose people to manage it. We meet these managers only twice a year to get a report on the annual proceedings. Therefore, for a company such as Bukedde to write; “we gave money to Gashumba and he failed to take us abroad” implies that these people personally gave me their money which is absolutely not true.
New Vision Group has a board of Directors who chose Kabushenga as the CEO. Assuming Kabushenga or any of his sub-ordinates are involved in any wrong-doing, you can’t come out of the blue and blame any of the directors for their acts.
Truth be told, the people that Bukedde says gave me money are unknown to me. I don’t even know how they look like. Sometimes I take a year without going to the offices of Sarafina.
I am still contemplating on how to handle this issue because my relationship with Bukedde Newspaper and the Television has not been bad. But one of the managers, Michael Mukasa Ssebbowa may be the one using this opportunity to blackmail and defame the person of Frank Gashumba. He has a personal vendetta against me.
This did not start today, it has taken time. Once, I went to Bukedde to meet Ssebbowa and his boss, Babra Kaija. He was always on my neck, writing all sorts of falsehoods about me.
I have no problem with Ssebbowa being my enemy. However, I don’t want you to pin goat ears on me and make me a leopard’s prey. Basing on your age and experience, you should have been able to differentiate between Frank Gashumba the person, and Frank Gashumba the director plus the managers of the company.
Even the people that you allege gave me money say they took the money to the company offices. But why did you write that they gave the money to me. If someone told you that you are using the Newspaper to fight personal battles, would they be untruthful? Is this fit for a Newspaper that’s celebrated 20 years?
Ssebowa, I am a war monger. If you want war, come out and stop hiding behind Bukedde. Let the battle lines be drawn. I have chewed glasses, you can’t bring calabashes. I have jumped anthills, you can’t bring gutters.
I spoke with your boss, Mr. Geofrey Kulubya and showed him my anger. I still think that the senior people at the Newspaper will look through my matter and make an official apology giving my full side of the story. If they fail to do this, I know what I will do next.
Editor’s Note: This article has been translated from a Luganda explanation that Frank Gashumba made on his wall.