Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga
Pastor Ssenyonga's Top TV dragged to Industrial court over unpaid wages
A labour dispute between former Top radio and Top TV presenter, Rick Ashaba and Top Media Consortium Limited, which belongs to famous city pastor, Jackson Ssenyonga has been moved to the Industrial court.
The
commissioner for labour in the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social
Development (MoGLSD) decided to refer the matter on the request of
Ashaba’s legal team. Ashaba ran to the Labour office on May 4, 2021
after he was allegedly sacked from his job while demanding more than Shs
5 million in salary arrears. Since then, the Labour office has been
‘begging’ top media managers led by Ronald Mubiru to show up for
arbitration in vain.
After realizing that station managers were
unwilling to present themselves for arbitration, Ashaba wrote to the
ministry through his lawyers of Makada & Partner Advocates and
Solicitors asking that the matter be referred to the Industrial court.
“This
matter has taken almost a year ever since it was reported to you. No
settlement or adjudication has been made on it. Therefore, relying on
Section 5 of the Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement Act, 2006)
and Rule 3 of the Industrial court rules, we pray that you refer the
matter to the Industrial court for further management,” Ashaba’s legal
team wrote on June 13, 2022.
The Labour officer has since agreed
with Ashaba indicating that indeed all efforts to have the matter
resolved amicably have been futile.
“The complaint was referred
to this office on 4th May 2021 unfair termination and unpaid wages. All
efforts to amicably resolve the matter through mediation have proved
futile and the complainant desires the matter to be referred to the
Industrial court in accordance with Section 5 of the Labour Disputes
(Arbitration and Settlement) Act, 2006,” ministry of Gender stated.
Ashaba explains that he is not too poor
to die for Shs 5 million but he wants to stop Ssenyonga from exploiting
media practitioners.
“For years, journalists have left Top Media
crying and many have been sacked for demanding their wages. It looks
like no one in this country can help the journalists. But I am
determined to fight this impunity. I want to help the future
journalists,” Ashaba explains.
From the time this case was
brought to the attention of Labour office and media attention, the
managers of Top Media do not respond to calls from journalists. Those
who have attempted to approach them physically have been tossed up and
down. However, Ssenyonga broke his silence on the matter in December
last year when accused Ashaba of being a liar during one of his
sermons.
He said the Top Media consortium doesn’t owe Ashaba any monies.
