The spectacular downfall of Top TV and the broader Top Media Consortium stands as one of the most glaring operational failures and labor scandals in the history of Ugandan faith-based media.
Founded under the stewardship of Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga of the Bwaise-based Christian Life Church, the station promised to serve as a beacon of the gospel. Instead, it has collapsed into a graveyard of broken promises, catastrophic financial mismanagement, massive congregation withdrawal, and systemic exploitation of the very workers who built it.
For decades, Top TV and Top Radio survived on the devotion and financial contributions of Christian Life Church followers. However, the business model proved unsustainable when operational costs could no longer be masked by Sunday offertories.
According to insider reports and public records, the station’s inability to survive secular market competition or attract independent corporate advertising left it fully vulnerable. Over time, multiple crises hit the media house:
The station accumulated massive debt, struggling to pay statutory regulatory fees to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and falling behind on millions in operational overheads.
The current collapse mirrors historical mismanagement; the station was previously shut down by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) over massive tax arrears, with tax officials revealing that management issued bounced checks during negotiations.
Frustrations peaked when unpaid workers took matters into their own hands, storming the studio premises to grab equipment in lieu of their stolen wages, effectively leaving the station dark.
A media house owned by a mega-church relies entirely on the goodwill of its flock. But as the curtain was pulled back on the lifestyle of the church leadership versus the suffering of its employees, the congregation began to walk away.
Worshippers grew deeply disillusioned by the stark contrast between the lavish expenditures of the Ssenyonga family—including highly publicized multi-million-shilling weddings and luxury vehicle purchases for their children—and the desperate cries of church workers who could not afford rent or food.
The aggressive and repetitive use of “marathon” fundraising services, lunch-hour fellowships, and specialized conferences to constantly extract money from believers under the guise of “paying media bills” eventually alienated the faithful. This massive drop-off in tithes and offerings accelerated the financial asphyxiation of both the church and Top TV.
The most damning aspect of Top TV’s history is its systematic failure to pay its workforce, a practice that insiders reveal has been embedded in the corporate culture since its early inception. These actions directly breach fundamental statutory rights guaranteed under Ugandan jurisprudence.
The Wages Protection Crisis
By withholding salaries for up to ten months, Top TV management directly violated Section 43 of the Employment Act, 2006, which explicitly mandates the timely payment of wages. Under Ugandan law, an employee’s wages must be paid in legal tender directly to them, and any unjustifiable delay constitutes a fundamental breach of contract. Furthermore, this practice flies in the face of Article 40(1)(b) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, which explicitly guarantees every worker the right to “equal pay for equal work without discrimination” and reasonable working conditions.
When top management occasionally agreed to clear minor fractions of historical salary arrears, they did so under highly controversial conditions.
According to employee testimonies, Pastor Ssenyonga insisted on deducting a 10% tithe directly from the workers’ back-pay before handing over the balance.
Legally, this maneuver is highly unlawful. Section 46 of the Employment Act, 2006 strictly regulates what an employer can subtract from a worker’s paycheck. Authorized deductions are tightly restricted to statutory requirements like Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions, or court-ordered attachments.
Deducting a religious tithe at the source without a free, uncoerced, written authorization from the employee violates the law, turning voluntary worship into corporate extortion.
The exploitation finally met resilient resistance when former presenter Rick Ashaba dragged Top Media Group and its General Manager, Ronald Mubiru, to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
Ashaba, who owed millions in salary arrears for 10 months of work, was summarily dismissed simply for demanding his contractual rights. Under Section 75 of the Employment Act, a dismissal predicated on an employee bringing a complaint against the employer to a lawful authority is explicitly deemed an unfair dismissal.
When summoned by state labor officers for mediation, Top TV management showed absolute contempt for the statutory framework by repeatedly refusing to attend arbitration hearings.
Consequently, the Ministry officially referred the dispute to the Industrial Court of Uganda under Section 5 of the Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act. Rather than showing remorse or engaging with the legal process, Pastor Ssenyonga used his pulpit to publicly brand the aggrieved journalists as “liars”.
The closure of Top TV is not just a commercial failure; it is a profound moral and legal bankruptcy. It highlights an ongoing, unregulated crisis within faith-based media houses in Uganda, where prominent religious figures use the gospel as a shield against labor laws, tax codes, and basic human empathy.
Media advocates have loudly called upon regulators like the UCC to thoroughly vet the financial capabilities and labor compliance records of religious institutions before issuing or renewing broadcasting licenses. As the physical structures of the station lie dismantled, the legacy left behind by Top TV’s management is not one of spiritual impact, but one of systemic human exploitation, broken livelihoods, and empty pews.
The Top Media Consortium has been in operation for nearly 30 years, having launched its flagship station, Top Radio 89.6 FM, in the late 1990s (around 1998) during the initial wave of media privatization in Uganda.
The conglomerate later expanded to include Top TV (which operated for over 15 years before its recent operational collapse) alongside several upcountry radio stations, including Rhino FM in Lira, Mubende FM, and branches in Mbarara, Masaka, Mbale, Kitgum, and Fort Portal.
As of 2026, the network’s legacy spans nearly three decades—evolving from a highly influential Christian broadcasting pioneer into a cautionary tale of long-term corporate and labor mismanagement
