A MultiChoice sex scandal that has engulfed MultiChoice Uganda has seen Charles Hamya, general manager of Naspers' pay-TV operation in the African country, go on leave for a month after his wife exposed his torrid extra-marital affair with MultiChoice Uganda marketing manager Phoebe Nakabazzi to DStv Uganda staffers in an email.
Willem Hattingh is now taking over as acting MultiChoice Uganda general manager while Charles Hamya is on leave for a month to try and sort out his personal life and relationships at home and at work after the nasty private details spilled into MultiChoice Uganda's corporate corridors.
Since Charles Hamya has been unable to properly manage his personal life, it's raising serious corporate management and reputation questions at MultiChoice Uganda and whether Charles Hamya can return as DStv Uganda boss.
If he returns - and if Phoebe Nakabazzi remains in her position as the marketing manager responsible for MultiChoice Uganda's public image - it will raise questions about what kind of message MultiChoice will be sending to not just DStv staffers and customers but the broader public if people with this type of tarnished reputations remain in their leadership roles.
Charles Hamya's trashy affair, brought into the workplace by his estranged wife, has dragged the MultiChoice Africa operation in the country into scandal, damaging the company's image with the public and DStv subscribers who know MultiChoice as a pay-TV service and not as a place where the boss has a multichoice of romantic entanglement with different women.
On Thursday Charles Hamya's angry and clearly frustrated wife, Crusid Matovu, sent an email to MultiChoice Uganda workers, exposing the torrid, secret and ongoing affair between her husband, Charles Hamya, and Phoebe Nakabazzi, both working together but also having an illicit romantic affair at MultiChoice Uganda headquarters in Kampala.
Crusid Matovu said she wants DStv staffers, subscribers and the public to know that Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi - described by some of her former colleagues as a "corporate climber" - have been carrying on an extra-marital affair, including things like a secret tryst in a Dubai hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Dubai Creek.
According to Crusid, Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi "started having an affair shortly after Nakabazzi joined the company" in 2015 - something that Crusid tried to fight when she discovered her philandering husband's ways. She however failed.
According to insiders Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi apparently attended all MultiChoice Africa "out-of-country trainings" together.
Crusid Matovu who met Charles Hamya in 2011 and got married in May 2016 after a 5-year relationship, said she wants to "bring to light the unethical actions of two of your employees who also happen to be in leadership positions within the company".
Crusid Matovu discovered that Charles Hamya is having an affair with MultiChoice Uganda's marketing manager Phoebe Nakabazzi behind her back, telling DStv Uganda staffers that "After multiple attempts to resolve this matter privately, this affair has continued against our marital vows."
Crusid also slammed Phoebe Nakabazzi, telling her DStv Uganda colleagues that her affair "continued to disrespect my marriage despite many attempts to cease her mistress-like behaviours with Charles. Her most recent act of devaluing my marriage was on a recent trip she took to Dubai with Charles two weeks ago".
Charles Hamya and Phoebe Nakabazzi "stayed at Hyatt Regency in Dubai Creek and later checked into Towers Rotana apartments" for a multiple day Dubai stay, wrote Crusid, showing an email from Charles Hamya informing the hotel to check Phoebe Nakabazzi in and to charge the room to his personal credit card where he would also be checking in later.
Crusid Matovu says the MultiChoice Uganda top executives have "proven that they do not value marriage or work ethics. This level of unprofessionalism should not be what MultiChoice Uganda stands for and for that matter I no longer want to be associated with both parties".
Charles Hamya is now gone and taking leave for a month "to attend to a family issue that found its way to the work place".
With the MultiChoice Uganda extra-marital affair exposed in public, TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice Africa for comment.
"MultiChoice is not able to comment on the recent correspondence regarding the conduct of MultiChoice Ugandan employees. These matters are outside of the business operations and pertain to the personal and private lives of employees," said MultiChoice Africa.
"MultiChoice’s culture and values establish the high levels of professionalism and integrity embodied in its code of conduct. Should evidence show that these are not being maintained, our internal processes and procedures will be applied."
Neither Charles Hamya nor Phoebe Nakabazzi could be reached for comment.
