The challenges of public relations practices in Uganda: a case study of National Water and Sewage Cooperation.

Abstract

Public Relations (PR) is commonly defined as relationship building with publics. A case study of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) is used in this research to unfold the challenges of the Public Relations practice in Uganda. The profession is an emerging occurrence in the management circles with limited PR department that are most times inadequately funded. The research was guided by the following objectives: to establish the role of PR in organisations and the factors suffocating the profession. The research also suggests remedies to eliminate or minimise these challenges. This study adopted both qualitative and quantitative approach. The researcher used questionnaires for gathering information from NWSC clients and staff coupled with in-depth interviews for key informants. Content analysis and Statistical Package Social Scientists (SPSS) was used for data interpretation and analysis. This involved development of themes and sub- themes in line with the objectives of the study, to categorize the various data in accordance with these themes. After data was collected the analysis confirmed that PR was generally regarded as a very important profession in any business as its role of creating strong relationships with customers and staff is a business booster. Its importance and popularity has been undermined and suffocated due to lack of knowledge and ignorance from the general public, but the few people who are aware of its importance in Uganda like the few professionals available are fighting for its recognition through the Public Relations Association of Uganda (PRAO). The researcher recommends that Corporations elevate PR staff to management level to contribute to the business strategy and influence resource distribution in their favour. The PR departments need to formulate objectives to steer the department to future challenges, especially to be able to have direction and account for their time and money spent was highly recommended.