Change of guard at Nation Media Group
Mr Joe Muganda on Wednesday took over as Group Chief Executive of Nation Media Group, replacing Mr Linus Gitahi who held the position for eight and a half years.
“I am pleased to be taking this responsibility. It is clearly a new challenge for me. I am new in the industry but I look forward to leading the organisation to greater heights in delivering to our stakeholders as per their expectations. I look forward to this new experience,” Mr Muganda said.
In a farewell communication to staff, Mr Gitahi reflected on the major technological changes in the communication and media industry.
“When I joined NMG in November 2006, Facebook was virtually unheard of; YouTube was just about a year old; Twitter had just been launched and WhatsApp had not even been conceived,” he said.
He also recalled the challenges the group dealt with during his tenure.
“Within weeks, I was learning diplomacy as we negotiated with authorities in Uganda to reopen NTV, which had just been pulled off air soon after we launched it,” he said.
DIFFICULT TIMES
“A few months later, the lesson had turned to politics, as we navigated our way through the difficult times of the 2007/8 post-election violence.”
As if that was not enough, the group had to deal with newspaper closures.
“There have been lessons in law: Dealing with newspaper closures in Uganda and Tanzania; restrictive press laws; circulation bans and, of course, the digital migration imbroglio in Kenya,” Mr Gitahi wrote.
“In our time together, we have doubled the Group’s annual turnover and trebled its profit. We have expanded our broadcast platforms, entered the Rwandan market, and launched new successful print titles including NTV Uganda, QTV, QFM, KFM in Rwanda Business Daily, and Ennyanda, while growing our existing products.” he wrote.
“We have expanded our digital platforms with the latest baby, Nairobi News being second today to Daily Nation in page views.”
“You are NMG’s most valuable asset and it has been an honour to work with you. I leave behind the best journalists, salespeople and managers.”