Sheilah Gashumba, a former NTV Uganda presenter and daughter to motor-mouthed social commentator Frank Gashumba, has come out to literally undress her former employer for paying her peanuts for the work she did for the media house.
In a string of revelations she posted online, Gashumba blasted the Serena-based station and other media houses for not caring about the need to reward talent and efforts of entertainment show hosts. She described NTV managers as ‘jokers” who “should be ashamed of themselves.”
She told her social media followers that NTV paid her Shs100,000 per appearance and participation in the Style Project show, which translated into Shs400,000 a month because the program aired once a week, yet she had to spend Shs80,000 on her makeup for every show (meaning she spent Shs320,000 on makeup alone for the four shows) – “minus my outfit head to toe.”
She would then earn Shs50,000 per appearance on NTV the Beat show for five days a week, translating into Shs1m per month.
“Some stations should be ashamed of themselves!! Come on! Why pay too little for the talent you front. I’m so proud of the TV Presenters in the industry but y’all know you deserve more!! You know it deep down!! I have so much respect for y’all and you know that because I know what it means to chase a dream but you need to be paid your worth,” wrote Gashumba.
“If only TV could pay more than the energy Presenters put in!! Lol!! We would be so rich!!! Lol!! Do research, do maths!! Add up!! I respect y’all but the money has to add up to the fame!!! Period. Fame doesn’t pay your bills but money does!”
She described working for NTV Uganda as being worse than vending samosas or being hired as an Uber driver.
“In general, my point is other jobs are way better than being a TV presenter in Uganda. I would rather drive Uber than be known by the whole world for being a TV presenter with peanuts; famous but broke!! Nah, I would rather sale samasos a whole month than be a TV presenter,” she said.
Asked why she had accepted to work for free at as a teen presenter at the now defunct WBS TV, Gashumba replied: “Because I was below 18 and I didn’t care about money but now I’m not a child my dear and I don’t stay under my father’s roof.”
Meanwhile, Gashumba’s daughter has also warned NTV Uganda’s management against sliding into her inbox to ask for mercy.
“And please don’t message me to remove the tweets!! I’m telling the truth!! The presenters know!! The production managers know and the head of the TVs know!! I don’t want a job on TV but I want the entertainment industry to be valued as much as it should be,” she concluded.
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