Their Children Go To Bed Hungry- KUJ Calls Out KTN, K24, Radio Africa After Journalists Unpaid For 10 Months

The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) for the second time exposed Standard Group Limited over salary woes, and for the first time roped in Radio Africa Group (RAG) and Mediamax Limited over the same.

In a letter to the three media houses dated Sunday, December 3, KUJ outlined that they received distress calls from the media companies that have 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.

KUJ Secretary General Erick 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.

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

"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.

KUJ looked back to three weeks ago when it raised the alarm regarding the turbulent operations at Standard Group, commending the oldest private media house in Kenya for taking steps to address the matter, further urging the management to clear salary arrears without delay.

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.

KUJ noted that corporate governance is becoming a new threat to media freedom in Kenya where managers are not concerned with the welfare of their employees, yet they expect to play a watchdog role for the common good of the society.

As a result, KUJ demanded the government to pay pending bills, which is partly blamed for the sorry state of affairs in the Kenyan media, to enable media houses to meet their financial obligation.

The government was also demanded to stop using advertising as a blackmail tool to cripple the 
media, adding that corporate governance be included in the checklist before any company is allowed to do business with the government and private sector.

"Full compliance with the Employment Act by all media houses. All media houses be required to provide proof of payment of salaries before accessing government advertising.

"Urge parliament to pass legislation to put in place regulations that set minimum pay for journalists. Establishment of a Media Development Fund to support media development work in Kenya" added the statement.

KUJ on November 9 threatened to mobilise media workers to stage protests outside Standard Group offices along Mombasa Road in Nairobi and its other offices countrywide in 14 days should they fail to formulate a plan to remit their journalists who lamented going for six months without a salary.

The union earlier called for a presser to condemn the impunity and injustice being perpetuated by the country's second-largest media house which owns the Standard Newspaper, KTN, KTN News, Radio Maisha, Spice FM, Vybez Radio, and other media products.