KAMPALA: Nation Media Group-Uganda (NMG-U) Managing Director Susan Nsibirwa has paid glowing tribute to Daniel Kalinaki, hailing his lasting impact on journalism and newsroom leadership.
Ms.Nsibirwa was speaking during the official farewell of the Group’s long-serving General Manager Editorial held at the company’s headquarters in Namuwongo last evening. She thanked him for nurturing talent and building strong editorial teams.
Ms. Nsibirwa added that Kalinaki’s contribution to journalism and belief in its power will remain a lasting legacy within the organisation and the wider media industry.
“Thank you for investing in journalists, in editors, in teams, and helping many careers grow. So I’m hoping that with this retirement, that you’ll be able to fulfill those things that you wanted to fulfill, spend time with your family,” Ms. Nsibirwa said.
The veteran journalist who steps away from mainstream media after nearly three decades, said he no longer sees himself in a traditional newsroom, opting instead to pursue personal projects, including books and spending more time with his family. “It was time. Iam bored and need new challenges”, Kalinaki said.
He however emphasized that his commitment to journalism remains intact.
“Think I will find the time to do things that contribute to the Janssen, whether it’s as an active journalist or whether it’s supporting the industry through the Guild and other initiatives”, Kalinaki said.
Kalinaki also warned that the rise of extremism and noise on social media makes the role of journalists even more critical in shaping informed, progressive public discourse.
To young journalists, Kalinaki described the profession as a “passion project,” urging them to remain curious and informed to safeguard journalism’s core mission amid growing industry pressures.
“I would say young journalists should stay hungry, they should stay foolish, they should have intellectual curiosity, they must understand how the world works so that they inform themselves and inform their audiences from a position of knowledge,” kalinaki said.
DK, as he is fondly known among his peers within the journalism fraternity hangs up his boots and pen at the media house where he began as one of the first writers for the Children’s Voice, which became Rainbow Magazine, before rising to the helm.
Meanwhile, as DK bows out, of the newsroom, his mentees, workmates and colleagues share their profound memories about him.
Opio Sam Caleb, who taught Kalinaki English Language from Primary Five to seven between 1989 and 1991 at Kamuli Boys Boarding Primary School described him as a unique pupil who never copied notes into his exercise books saying that instead, he stored everything in his head.
Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the former political reporter at Daily Monitor, now the Member of Parliament for Kira Municipality, described DK as one of the best journalists who, no doubt- rose through the ranks very quickly.
While for Andrew Mwenda, a former political journalist at the Monitor and founder, Independent, DK is one of the most talented and thoughtful journalist Uganda has produced. “He developed a passion for journalism at a very early age while a student at Busoga College Mwiri. I had started a newspaper at Mriri and called it the New Mwirian. When I left, it was on the verge of collapse when Dan took it over and turned it into something much bigger”, said Mwenda.
