If The Apprentice Africa were a country, I’m sure that no one would run for president. It has become very scary for anyone to volunteer as leader for either of the teams in the competition as the 4 out of 6 project mangers have been fired so far. 25 year old Kenyan, Joyce Kathomi Mbaya was the fourth project manager to be fired after she failed to lead Matrix Corp to victory.

The teams were tasked to create a four-page newspaper insert for Bank PHB, the lead sponsor of the Apprentice Africa. This was the second task for the bank and Matrix wanted to redeem its name after failing the previous Bank PHB task. However after both teams presented their task, the Bank PHB executives chose Zulu Corp as winners. For the first time in the series, I disagree with the choice of winner because the concept from Matrix was not only creative but also up to the standard of any Bank PHB advert in Nigeria. But the executives felt that the Matrix insert did not include the Bank’s achievements. For their reward, Zulu went out for cart-racing lessons.

At the boardroom, the CEO asked Matrix what went wrong. “I don’t understand what happened. I wish I could get a clear understanding of why we lost”, Isaac the only male member of Matrix answered. “You did not carry out the client’s brief. No consumer has the time to waste trying to pick information. Your design lacks what I call the ‘wow factor’ but Zulu Corp’s design makes you curious to want to know more about the content”, the CEO replied. Joyce picked Eunice and Regina to join her in facing possible elimination. Regina looked teary, perhaps suspecting and fearing that the end was near for her; while feisty Eunice looked prepared to do battle for survival but neither of them could anticipate what was to unfold.

“You can’t talk about a bank and not talk about its financial strength”, the C.E.O attacked, perhaps flaunting his many years of experience in advertising. Regina, the copywriter for the task argued that Joyce refused to listen to her opinions because she felt Isaac was smarter, and only listened to Isaac. When the boss asked Joyce who to fire, she replied, “Sir, as the project manager, I take responsibility for neglecting the things I did during this task. I will not point at any of these ladies as the weak link.” But the CEO wasn’t impressed. “I have not seen a project manager who cannot tell me who was the weakest link in her team. Joyce, you’re fired”, he concluded.

Joyce hugged Regina and Eunice on her way out. Although she was out of the game, she bowed out gracefully. Without a doubt, this was the most non-confrontational elimination so far. Before leaving in her cab, Joyce remarked, “I have to be accountable enough to take responsibility for my team’s weakness.”