By Spy Uganda
A former PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Uganda employee has renewed a legal battle against the professional services firm, accusing it of unfairly terminating his employment, workplace harassment and frustrating his efforts to secure new employment.
Barak Twinomubezi, a former Senior Associate in PwC Uganda’s Advisory and Non-Audit Services Division, says his five-year struggle for justice has now culminated in a compensation claim of up to Shs1 billion.
Appearing on Spy Television, Twinomubezi said his troubles began in January 2021 when he was allegedly informed during a virtual meeting involving senior PwC partners and Human Capital officials that his employment had been terminated.
He said he subsequently requested a formal termination letter because he had an outstanding salary loan with Standard Chartered Bank and needed proof of his employment status.
According to Twinomubezi, PwC later sent him a staff exit clearance form but subsequently took the position that he had not been formally terminated.
He alleges that despite this, his salary stopped, he was no longer assigned work and could not return to his duties.
Twinomubezi joined PwC Uganda in February 2017 through the firm’s graduate recruitment programme after graduating with a First Class degree in Journalism from Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
He said he was promoted within six months because of his performance and later worked on several assignments, including a review of refugee programmes funded by the United Nations and the United States Government.
Twinomubezi claims his relationship with one of his managers deteriorated after he presented a report directly to a client at the client’s request before it had been reviewed internally.
He alleges that he was subsequently given fewer assignments despite repeatedly requesting work through email.
According to him, the reduction in assignments caused his billable-hour utilisation to decline, after which management placed him on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) over under-utilisation.
Twinomubezi argues that the process was unfair because he claims he was denied sufficient work and later criticised for failing to meet utilisation targets.
The alleged employment dispute also had financial consequences, according to Twinomubezi.
He said he had obtained a salary loan from Standard Chartered Bank while working at PwC, but his inability to secure formal confirmation of his employment status complicated the repayment process after his salary stopped.
He claims the resulting financial difficulties negatively affected his credit standing.
Legal Battle
Twinomubezi said he initially instructed lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde and the Legal Brain Trust to pursue the matter, with an initial demand of about Shs2 billion in damages.
He said mediation was later conducted before Kampala Capital City Authority labour officials, but the negotiations eventually stalled, prompting him to engage another law firm.
Beyond the employment dispute, Twinomubezi alleges that PwC Uganda provided unfavourable references that affected his attempts to secure employment elsewhere.
He claims adverse feedback from his former employer contributed to him losing opportunities with PwC Middle East in Dubai and Edelman Consulting.
He also alleged receiving anonymous calls warning him to abandon the case, claims that he said prompted him to temporarily relocate to Dubai. However, he acknowledged that he could not identify those responsible, and no evidence linking the alleged threats to PwC was presented.
Twinomubezi maintains that his pursuit of the case is about accountability rather than revenge, arguing that employees should be able to raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
PwC Uganda had not responded to the allegations at the time of publication despite our several calls and whatsapp messages. The claims remain allegations and have not been independently verified or established by a court.
