A security guard deployed at Southern Range Nyanza Textile Industry (Nytil) in Njeru in eastern Uganda has been fired for instructing his boss to wear a face mask as a preventive measure against spreading coronavirus disease.
George Muyomba attached to Pan African Carriers Uganda-Limited was dismissed from his job after he asked general manager Vinay Kumar of Nytil to wear a face mask before he could be allowed into the factory premises.
According to the termination letter dated May 19, 2020, and signed by the factory's human resource manager, Joanitah Nakawesi, Muyomba is accused of insubordination and selective enforcement of guidelines on face masks.
"You locked out the general manager outside the entry gate while he was reporting for duty on May 6, 2020, claiming that he had not put on a face mask. The general manager requested you to allow him entry and you sort out the matter while he was inside the factory premises but you were adamant, this is insubordination," reads the letter.
The letter indicated that although the guard was advised to ensure that all staff wear face masks while reporting for duty, he seemingly targeted the Indian managers and had leniency for other workers who accessed the factory without masks.
Ironically, Nytil is one of the firms contracted by the government to manufacture face masks that will be distributed to Ugandans after the president announced that face masks will now be mandatory.
Muyomba says that his employer had resolved to deploy him in another unit, away from the gates for a period of one week. However, Kumar ordered for his instant dismissal as soon as he sighted him.
"On 6th, I was deployed at the main gate, when I was deployed there, my boss general manager came [and] he was not putting on a face mask. I went to him, I greeted him [and] requested him to put on a face mask. As it was ordered by the president of Uganda that whoever is going to the public should put on a face mask. From there, he called HR ordering them to chase me because I told him to put on a face mask. On May 19, they terminated my services from Nytil," said Muyombo.
Kumar declined to respond to our repeated calls by press time. However, the factory's corporate affairs manager Jimmy Mutesasira downplayed the reports saying that the news of the termination is circulated by competitors in the textile industry.
"Ever since the president started endorsing Nytil as the leading producer of quality face masks in his different televised address, mafias started plotting against us, they are actually the ones responsible for misleading Muyomba," he says.
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