By Mulengera Reporters
President Museveni has followed up on his earlier assignment to Finance Minister Matia Kasaija regarding the fate of Vision Group CEO Robert Kabushenga. Mulengera News recently reported that some disgruntled Vision Group employees had secretly written to Gen Museveni imploring him to probe into the financial situation of the company which Kabushenga kept claiming was very dire because of the COVID19 lockdown while using the same to justify purging of staff so that very few remain on the job (see related reporting here https://mulengeranews.com/m7-tasks-two-top-ministers-to-probe-kabushenga-while-pondering-ura-like-changes/; https://mulengeranews.com/balaam-demands-shs1bn-from-kabushengas-vision-group-as-damages-for-cranes-cash-story/).
Now sources say that after the last Monday cabinet meeting, Gen Museveni privately spoke to Kasaijja demanding to know the progress of the investigations he ordered into Vision Group. He made it clear he wanted his investigations report and urgently. “It’s very clear he wants the Vision Group leadership issue resolved before campaigns begin,” says a source.
All this is happening at a time when Gen Museveni’s key volunteer NRM mobilizer Balaam Barugahara is tightening the noose around the necks of the Vision Group top executives.
Saying their Kampala Sun recently defamed him, Balaam has dragged the company to Court and he is demanding Shs1bn in damages. Through Isabirye & Co Advocates (based at NIC Building), Balaam asserts that their Kampala Sun story which accused him of demanding 50% of the Uganda Cranes players’ money as brokerage fees in return for helping them to have audience with the President and recover his earlier pledge to them, was not only defamatory of him but totally untrue.
In his notice of 5th July 2020, Balaam gave the company three days to retract the story and apologize which they proudly declined doing within the three days he had given them. This indifference by Vision Group left him with no option but to file a civil suit after the three days’ notice he gave them expired.
On 10th July, Balaam was at Court with his lawyers where he filed Civil Suit No. 179 of 2020. The Court papers Mulengera News has seen indicate that the Group Editor in Chief Barbra Kaija is among those Balaam wants to come to court to defend themselves against the tort of defamation he says has been occasioned against him.
The second defendant is Vision Group followed by Editor Kampala Sun Emmanuel Sejjengo and Julius Senyimba, the reporter who personally authored the impugned story. The story in contention was published on 3rd July under the headline “Balaam harasses Uganda Cranes over Sevo cash.” It was widely circulated both electronically on Kampala Sun website and print.
As he prepared to file his case, the indefatigable Balaam was buoyed by the fact that Cranes player Dennis Onyango, who the newspaper purports to have been the source of the story, has since denied ever talking Senyimba or any other reporter from the newspaper. Onyango is a willing witness for Balaam against Vision Group in the defamation suit.
The celebrity goalkeeper has since communicated to the plaintiff in a text message stating: “I’m sorry those guys are spoiling people’s names based on such stupid things.” He adds he has nothing to do with such “stupid journalism” and denies ever complaining to anyone about Balaam who vigorously denies ever involving himself in such “criminal” solicitation of money from Onyango or any other Uganda Cranes player.
Saying he has a name to protect, Balaam suspects that Vision Group CEO Robert Kabushenga envies him for the unfetted access he has to the President and that the Kampala Sun story was aimed at discrediting him (as a mufere) before the President. Vision Group, which big-name citizens enjoy suing these days and recently lost a similar case against Gen Kahinda Otafiire, is yet to file its defense against the Balaam claim. In the Otafiire case, the judge found the company culpable for both contempt of court and defamation arising from their coverage of the Njeru Stock Farm land saga in Buikwe.
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