Eleven Organizations, Individuals and PR Agencies receive gold accolades while 8 emerge as runners up with silverware
Jinja, Uganda | NEWS CORRESPONDENT | The Public Relations Association of Uganda (PRAU) crowned its 50th anniversary celebrations with the 10th PRAU Excellence Awards, recognising communication professionals, agencies and organisations for their outstanding work in public relations, strategic communication and campaign management held under the theme, “A Legacy in Gold: Honouring the Cream of Public Relations.
Pearl Bank received the Corporate Storytellers Award, Media Relations Gold Standard Award, Impact Beyond Profit Award and PR Crown Jewel Award for the best overall campaign at the gala held at the Source of the Nile Hotel in Jinja City on Friday, October 23.
Other winners were brainchild Burson, named PR Powerhouse of the Year, Lynn Nansirumbi, PR Rising Star; Uganda Breweries Limited, winner of the Policy and Persuasion Award; and TotalEnergies EP Uganda, which received the Culture Champions Award.
Airtel Uganda won the Reputation Champions Award, the Electricity Regulatory Authority received the Event Maestros Award, Uganda Red Cross Society took the Heart and Purpose Award, while Crown Beverages Limited won the Viral Gold Award.
Runners Up included, Stanbic Bank for Corporate Storytellers Award, Pearl Bank for Culture Champions Award, Event Maestros Award for NCBA Bank, Impact Beyond Profit Award for TotalEnergies EP Uganda, PR Powerhouse for Node Group Consult, PR Rising Star was Whitney Najjuka, Capital One Group, Policy and Persuasion Award went to Electricity Regulatory Authority and Viral Gold Award was received by Node Consult.
The gala also recognized PRAU’s past and current presidents, while acknowledging the sponsors and partners whose support sustained the association’s anniversary programme and awards.
PRAU President Irene Nakasiita paid tribute to the late James R. Mutabaazi, who founded the association in 1976. His son, Dr. Daniel Ruhweza, attended the event as his representative.
Nakasiita said PRAU’s leadership structure allows immediate past presidents to remain on the Governing Council to preserve institutional memory.
“When a president leaves office, they may continue serving on the governing council as the immediate past president. We do this to maintain institutional continuity and preserve organisational memory,” she said.
She thanked sponsors, journalists, judges, the organising committee and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which validated the awards process.
“Everyone who qualifies for an award today has gone through the established criteria, been assessed by the judging panel and had the process validated by PwC,” Nakasiita said.
The sponsors and partners included Parliament of Uganda, Bank of Uganda, Pearl Bank, Uganda Revenue Authority, Deposit Protection Fund, Capital Markets Authority, Petroleum Authority of Uganda, Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Microfinance Support Centre, Stanbic Bank, Uganda Breweries Limited, Crown Beverages Limited, Uganda Baati, Uganda Red Cross Society, Ipsos Uganda, Electricity Regulatory Authority, Epicom, Affinity Media, Action Imagery, IdeaCentral and SautiPlus.
Media partners included SoftPower News, New Vision, Next Media, UBC, Capital FM, Radio One, Galaxy FM, PML Daily, The Independent Magazine, CEO Magazine, Business Times, Comms of Africa and Guide2Uganda.
Guest of honour Alhaji Osman Noor Ahmed, Second Deputy Prime Minister of Busoga Kingdom, challenged practitioners to look beyond publicity and use communication to build trust between institutions and the public.
“A well-designed communication campaign can create awareness, but a credible and honest communication strategy can build trust. Publicity may attract attention, but integrity sustains reputation,” Noor Ahmed said.
He urged practitioners to uphold truth, accuracy, transparency and accountability, including acknowledging mistakes and responding clearly to public concerns.
“The greatest test of public relations is therefore not how loudly an institution speaks about itself, but how confidently the people themselves can speak about it,” he said.
Noor Ahmed called on organisations operating in Busoga to treat communication as a strategic investment that can help communities understand development programmes, encourage participation, attract investment and strengthen partnerships.
He also urged practitioners to embrace social media, artificial intelligence and data analytics without compromising truth, privacy, fairness and professional integrity. He called for stronger collaboration between PRAU, universities, government agencies, businesses, civil society, the media and cultural institutions to prepare young professionals for the industry.
Dr Patricia Litho, Assistant Commissioner for Communication and Information Management at the Ministry of Energy and Rural Development and lead judge, said the panel assessed more than 44 entries across the award categories.
While the submissions demonstrated creativity and growing appreciation of strategic communication, she said some lacked adequate research, campaign evaluation and evidence of results.
Litho said media coverage, event attendance and social media impressions alone do not establish whether a campaign has changed public perceptions or behaviour.
“We must move from measuring what we did to demonstrating what changed because of what we did,” she said. “The true value of communication lies in its contribution to relationships, understanding, reputation, behaviour and organisational outcomes.”
She urged practitioners to establish baselines, track progress and support claims of success with verifiable evidence, cautioning against relying on Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) as the sole measure of public relations effectiveness.
Litho also recommended clearer eligibility rules and conflict-of-interest safeguards to protect the independence of future awards, including procedures for serving council members, judges and those involved in organising or administering the competition.
The panel received no entry in the Emerging Talent Award category, prompting a call for continued investment in professional development, ethical practice, strategic planning and campaign measurement.
The anniversary programme also included visits to Bujagali Hydropower Plant and Kiira Motors Corporation. At Bujagali, PRAU members toured the facility and learned about hydropower generation at the plant, which has an installed capacity of 250 megawatts.
At Kiira Motors, participants observed electric bus assembly during a visit led by PRAU Immediate Past Presidents Tina Wamala and Cynthia Mpanga.
The visits complemented knowledge-sharing and networking sessions during the celebrations, which also featured the launch of The State of the PR Profession in Uganda: A Desk Research-Based Point of View, prepared by Ipsos Uganda.
PRAU marked its 50th anniversary since its establishment on 22nd May 1976 and as oart of the golden jubilee celebration, the association week-long summit under the theme “Celebrating 50 years of professional excellence, and shaping the future of public with activities combine professional discussions, institutional visits, recognition of the association’s leaders and partners, and awards celebrating work across corporate communication, reputation management, public engagement and social impact.
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