Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) employees all over the country, for the first time since the organisation was founded in 1965 through an act of Parliament as an auxiliary to the national government and lately county governments after the promulgation of the new constitution, will not celebrate Christmas.
Here is the reason; none of the staffers has received their December salaries, and many who had planned to travel upcountry have been left with many questions as to how they will celebrate Xmas without any money.
Our source has indicated that after the exit of the corrupt Secretary General Abass Gullet (to retire on 31st December, 2019) to head the crumbling business wing of KRCS, there have been salary delays as well non-payment of per diems. This is an issue that has left staffers to sleep inside their work vehicles while in the field.
Our mole at the registrar of companies has indicated that the new business outfit of KRCS will be known as Boma Panafric Limited. This is after a bid to register Switch Holdings didn’t materialise.
There are plans to make the humanitarian side independent from the business entities with proposals to transfer 100% shares of the subsidiary companies.
The Boma Panafric board will include six members Graham Shaw, Anne Osoro, Gina Din Kariuki, Sahil Shah, Rita Kaveshe, Mohamoud Salat.
The Boma Panafric will have Eplus Medical services, Red Court hotels, Switch TV and Boma Hospitality College Limited under it.
The KRCS payroll has been left to interns while the senior colleagues catwalk from one office to another making niceties with their buddies. If the employer and the finance department knew of an annual festive season and went ahead to give staffers an Xmas break, why delay in remmiting them?
This comes in the wake of receivership announcements of the four red cross owned Boma Hotels. The hotels are in Nairobi, Eldoret and Nyeri. They seem to have died soon after they were launched.
With questions still lingering over where the profits from the business entities of Boma Hotels, Eplus, Red cross 1st Aid training school and The Boma College go to, many cannot understand why the much publicised businesses are not making profits.
KRCS has already silently laid off over 60 people after a work analysis survey that began mid this year by audit firm Delloite & Touche found them non-performing.
The employees were given non contract renewal letters with the hardest hit being the finance department where out of 18 staff, only 6 were retained.
The survey recommended merging of departments such as operations and water as one unit with HOD’s being shown the door after being used KRCS.
Our source further revealed that Boma hotels had laid off over 90 staffers (casual, contract, management) in a bid to save 6 millions shillings monthly. There were plans to lay off more staffers but the process was halted after they threatened to seek legal redress since they were unionasable, permanent and pensionable.
The organisation also realised that their send off package would have costed them a fortune, hence drowning the hotels into receivership to save face as well as run away from a local bank which is being owed close to half a billion.
As at 1st December, Switch TV had laid off over 40 employees in less than a year since it was launched and put in the hands of greedy media wanabees, Kibisu Mulanda and his side kick Tamima Ibrahim.
Late November 2019, 8 staffers we issued with termination letters by their boss Tamima Ibrahims. This also included Managing editor Lenny Rashd, Chief Operting Officer Joanna Gomes, Cameramen and Producers.
Quite often the wanabee switch bosses keep releasing unverified poll results from little known pollsters showing that Switch TV is the most popular TV station.
This blatant lie has continued to make Abass Gullet a laughing stock as he keep mentioning how Switch TV is position 3 in Kenya a fact that even toddlers in kindergarten know that Switch’s viewership cannot even reach half of Inooro TV or Kameme TV.
Stakeholders in media circles have always questioned the target audience of theTV station with many terming it as the worst investment ever in the media arena.The intern-run staton has four cameras which makes it hard for them to compete with the big boys of the industry such as CITIZEN, K24, NTV, KTN NEWS in terms news gathering and dissemination.
After the sacking of experienced and professional journalists the station has been turned into a haven of nepotism as senior Red Cross staff have brought in an intern or two compromising on quality since the “rich kids” have poor work attitude as well being aloof.
Our source has further revealed that there are plans to bail out Switch TV by KRCS whose operational costs are three times more than their revenue stream.
A meeting by the newly elected Board also questioned its sustainability after a review of its financial statements.
While all this is happening the organisation will part with over Ksh100 million as Human Resource Costs following the rampant lay off of employees after the exercise by Delloite n Touche.
Even as the organisation employees enjoy a broke Christmas we wish them a merry Xmas and a prosperous 2019.
