Standard Group Former Staff Protest Amidst Shutdown Threat By Govt

With the media house facing threats by the government to shut down its broadcasting operations, hundreds of former employees of the more-than-a-century-old Standard Group Limited staged demonstrations along the busy Mombasa Road, marching to the company’s headquarters to protest the delayed payment of salaries and benefits.

Former employees, including journalists, have called out the Mombasa Road-based media house for allegedly breaching financial agreements, claiming they have not been paid their dues despite years of dedicated service.

Holding placards in protest, the ex-staff insisted that the company, one of the country’s oldest media groups, has repeatedly failed to follow through on promises to clear outstanding payments. They lamented that the prolonged delay in receiving their money has left many of them struggling to meet basic needs, especially amid a worsening economic climate.

Additionally, they accused the media house of failing to remit key statutory deductions from their salaries, including contributions to SACCOs, pension funds, and taxes. "We have come together to reveal human standing labour and rights violations committed by this company. The allegations highlight a systematic pattern of misconduct,'' read a statement from the former employees. 

A section of Standard Group employees outside their offices on July 17, 2024. /KINYAN BOY

"These include unpaid salaries, non-remittance of pension deductions, and unpaid redundancy dues. These have impacted the financial well-being of former employees and overall livelihoods, including those of their dependents."

Some of the former employees were laid off in July last year as the company grappled with financial difficulties stemming from declining revenues in the media sector. Others chose to resign voluntarily, but have still not received their rightful compensation from the company’s management.

Sources indicate that during the most recent round of layoffs, staff were allegedly pressured and misled into agreeing to a one-year payment plan, which has since failed to come through.

The management, under the leadership of Group Chief Executive Officer Marion Gathoga Mwangi, had yet to respond to the pleas of the former staff by the time of going to press. Meanwhile, the media house is fighting to survive after the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) initiated a process to revoke all the company’s broadcast licenses, citing unsettled regulatory fees.

In a letter dated April 9 and signed by CA Director General David Mugonyi, the Communications Authority announced its intention to publish a Kenya Gazette notice revoking all broadcasting licences held by the media house, a move that cripples arguably the most important arm of the media house.

“This letter serves to inform you that the Authority is progressing to publish a notification on the revocation of all the broadcast licences issued to the Standard Group PLC in the Kenya Gazette,” reads the letter.

The Authority cited the failure to pay license fees and the Universal Service Fund (USF) levy, and also dismissed a debt repayment plan the company had proposed in December 2024. The agreement was aimed at clearing Ksh48 million in regulatory dues, which the Standard Group attributes to ongoing economic challenges.

In response, the media company fired back, calling the move a politically driven effort to silence its critical reporting on the Kenya Kwanza government. “We entered and signed an agreement with the Communication Authority that we will be paying Ksh2.5 million a month towards the completion of this debt,” Standard Group’s Chief Executive Editor, Chaacha Mwita, disclosed.

“And we went ahead to increase this amount from Ksh2.5 million to Ksh4 million a month. We have been adhering to that payment plan. So, anything outside of that smacks of ill-will and malice, and we have no option but to fight it.”

Standard Group stated that it had already made a Ksh10 million payment in December 2024, followed by additional payments of Ksh4 million each in January and February 2025, showing a committed effort to stick to the agreed repayment plan.

Mwita connected the threat to revoke the licences with the Group’s recent investigative reporting and hard-hitting headlines, which have uncovered alleged corruption and governance lapses within President William Ruto’s administration.

“What we publish and carry is the reality of the day. We are not going to back down, we are not going to report things that are not the reality just to make some people happy,” he said.

“We have audiences, and we have the responsibility as a media house to hold the mirror to society, and that is what we are doing. We stand firm with our audiences, and we tell them that KTN is their destination for news and information. And so is The Standard newspaper.”

In a new development, Standard Group disclosed that although the government is pressing for Ksh48 million in licence fees, it owes the media house Ksh1.2 billion in unpaid advertising bills from various ministries, state agencies, and county governments.

The company added that it has filed a case with the Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal, requesting an injunction to stop the Gazette Notice from being published.