By Our Reporter
“Joyce and I hit the one-year anniversary mark of landing in Kampala on Sunday. We’d planned to celebrate by going to the same restaurant we went to on our arrival a year ago Sunday — a revolving restaurant high above the Golf Course Hotel that offers a panoramic view of Kampala along with some really good food (and a pretty good martini).
Those plans were dashed when I got a call from Mahmood Ahmed, the Aga Khan’s representative for this part of the world and someone who’s become a good friend. We had dinner with him and his wife in London to help celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary.
Mahmood had called Sunday to ask if I could have dinner with him because he had something important to discuss.
The issue: I was to meet with the Aga Khan on Wednesday to discuss the Daily Monitor — what we’re doing and, more importantly, where we needed to go and what we needed to do to get there.”-–Malcolm Gibson wrote partly on his blog.
Only that we didn’t think resignation was one of the things Gibson had mentioned to the Aga Khan as what was needed to get Monitor to the destination. The last time he’d cleared his table at Monitor, he’d threatened that he would only return to Monitor only and only if the Managing Director, Alex Asiimwe was out of the way.
Indeed, Gibson got his way, and Asiimwe was shown the exit together with his humble student, Don Wanyama. A series of restructuring exercises went on at Daily Monitor. Only that, one spot was yet to be filled.
And that was the spot of Managing Director. Tony Glencross was appointed new Managing Director and Simon Kagugube, the MPL board chair exclaimed with excitement; “we finally have it right.”
Have it right they did until Gibson emailed his resignation letter purporting an urgency to be present for his mom’s 100th birthday. It was a sojourn too hyper and the emperor aka Gibson gladly intro’d it with; “I love my job. Finally.”
Now, Monitor finds itself in the same struggle the Greek legend Sisyphus found himself, rolling that boulder up the mountain. It seems, when Monitor solves one problem, the solution introduces another. It’s the paradox of second-order effects.
Glencross took up the job on condition that he takes full powers as far as installing his own editorial team. No wonder Gibson had to escape faster than his legs could take him, take the quickest plane to Tampa, Florida and bury his head in the sand.
But why not finish what he started? Or is he playing the same mind games in a way to make himself immune to the bag of tricks that Glencross carries with him.
Gibson continues to type away in his blog post;
“As for loving my job, I couldn’t say that two months ago. But I can say it now.
And sorry for the silence, but it’s because I now love my job that I can write this with some confidence…though still not with the candor I’d like.
But the good news is that I do love my job, in great part because I have a new leadership team in place that is dedicated to our mission.
And I genuinely like and respect (most) of the people I’m working with.
We have an acting managing director (publisher), Stephen Gitagama, who’s “real” job is Chief Financial Officer of our parent in Nairobi, the Nation Media Group. He and I have an absolutely great working relationship because we share the same vision. A new MD is scheduled to come in soon; here’s hoping we have the same relationship because we’re finally making the progress we’ve been hoping to make on all fronts.
So, life is good. And there’s hope it will continue.”
The last lines reveal the real fear of the emperor. He notes with deep pessimism or should we call it optimism; “a new MD is scheduled to come in soon; here’s hoping we have the same relationship because we’re finally making the progress we’ve been hoping to make on all fronts.”
But what progress has been made? If restricting counts for progress then it’s a miserable way to define progress.
So it’s written about Sisyphus that is Daily Monitor:
“Aye, and I saw Sisyphus in violent torment, seeking to raise a monstrous stone with both his hands. Verily he would brace himself with hands and feet, and thrust the stone toward the crest of a hill, but as often as he was about to heave it over the top, the weight would turn it back, and then down again to the plain would come rolling the ruthless stone. But he would strain again and thrust it back, and the sweat flowed down from his limbs, and dust rose up from his head.”
Albert Camus tells us; “that one must imagine Sisyphus happy.” I beg to disagree, in Gibson and Monitor’s case, one can’t imagine them happy. In a clash of management, sales will always suffer. Monitor keeps solving one problem only to find another of a grand scale propping up. It’s a drive to futility, a race to 2039 when the last newspaper will be printed in Africa according to Trevor Ncube’s predictions.
What next? We’re hoping that Gibson will return soon, sooner than the messiah-to finish what he started and eat the broth that he actively prepared. Boys start races, men finish those races. We hope that Gibson will finish the race, the good journey that he begun.