KUJ Issues 24-Hour Ultimatum To K24, People Daily After Journalists Unpaid For 12 Months

The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) has given Mediamax Networks Limited 24 hours to address the concerns over non-payment of its correspondents, failure to which it would mobilise all the correspondents to close its offices.

In a statement sent to Viral Tea dated Tuesday, March 12, KUJ led by Secretary General Erick Oduor assured that the union stands in solidarity with correspondents of The People Daily, which it revealed had withdrawn its labour over non-payment of their dues for over 12 months.

"This level of impunity being exhibited by the management of Mediamax Ltd is unacceptable and must be stopped by all means.

"The correspondents have been subjected to inhuman treatment and have lost their dignity due to their inability to meet their financial obligations, yet they sweat every day to deliver stories to the newspaper for publication," read the statement in part.

Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) Secretary-General, Eric Oduor. /FILE

KUJ shared the dire plight of the correspondents, who informed the union that they had been evicted by their landlords over accumulated rent arrears as a result of the delayed salaries, a matter which has forced them and their loved ones to spend nights either in the office premises or on the streets as they have nowhere to call home.

"These are factors that are contributing to a decline in media freedom in Kenya because journalists cannot be expected to continue working yet their remuneration is not given priority.

"In view of the above, we are giving Mediamax Ltd 24 hours to address the concerns and negotiate a return-to-work formal with the correspondents, failure to which we will escalate the matter, including mobilising all correspondents to storm and shut the offices of Medimax located along Kijabe Street," demanded KUJ.

A WhatsApp text earlier seen by Viral Tea had earlier urged correspondents to down their tools over the unpaid dues as well as desist from filing stories to any Mediamax platform, including K24 until the arrears are paid in full and a new working arrangement was made.

This was in response to an alleged refusal by Mediamax management to solve the issue of payment of money it owed to the correspondents and pleas falling on deaf ears.

"Any correspondent filing a story will be deemed a saboteur and immediately considered a renegade against this cause of justice. We shall be thoroughly looking at the People Daily newspaper every day to check which correspondent is going against this," the message read in part.

This is however not the first time KUJ has raised concerns over non-payment of correspondents in the media house. The union on December 3, 2023, exposed Mediamax over the same as well as roped in Standard Group Limited and Radio Africa Group (RAG).

KUJ at the time outlined that they received distress calls from the media companies that had not paid their staff and correspondents for about 10 months in the wake of difficult economic times and the high cost of living in the country.

Oduor noted that while the union acknowledged the difficult business environment in Kenya and the ever-changing media ecosystem that media houses must contend with, payment of salaries is not open for discussions.

"Delayed and non-payment of salaries of journalists and media workers by a number of media houses in Kenya has reached a crisis level and become the biggest threat to media freedom and human rights in Kenya," stated Oduor in part.

The union made public the extent of the current salary crisis across the three media houses that has even negatively affected the families of the affected media workers and correspondents.

"Children go to bed hungry and some have even dropped out of school because their parents are unable to meet their financial obligations as a result of the don’t care attitude that has been adopted by some media managers whose families feast on cheese for dinner and drink wine before going to bed in if I were to quote Karl Marx.

"The pain men and women in the media are feeling has been inflicted by delayed salaries as some have gone for 10 months without pay without any justification. Let me remind media owners that they are operating in a space where public trust is paramount and, therefore, they cannot hold other people to account if their own hands are not clean," added Oduor.

Since that statement, Standard Group, the oldest private media house in Kenya took steps to address the matter, even though KUJ had urged the management to clear salary arrears without delay. Radio Africa was yet to publicly respond to the matter.

A building housing Mediamax offices along Kijabe Street in Nairobi. /FILE