After keeping its audience waiting with bated breath for some time before its launch this year, Kikuyu radio station Gichichio FM, owned by former Murang’a governor Mwangi Wa Iria, is on the verge of closure.
The station that had promised to bring a revolution in the Kikuyu radio market that is dominated by Kameme and Inooro FMs is nothing but a shadow of its past.
After running down Murang’a county for ten years, Wa Iria, whose presidential ambitions were thwarted by IEBC for lack of merit, joined Azimio at the last minute and claimed he was to be given a ministerial post.
There are multiple reports that he apparently used to torture county staff.
Now he is at it again.
This time around, ruining the lives of his National Mirror Media employees.
Wa Iria’s media company owns Gichichio FM, Gichichio TV and Mirror TV.
Sources say he hasn’t paid his employees for over seven (7) months now and has vowed not to give out a single penny.
He has been arrogantly dismissing the staff and telling them they can’t take him anywhere.
The ex-governor who is on EACC’s radar after plundering Murang’a county pays employees a meagre salary ranging from Sh5,000 to Sh10,000.
Sources claim he does not submit deductions to NSSF, NHIF and KRA.
He threatens to fire employees, saying he has people on standby who are ready to come in and work.
His media stations, both TV and radio, have also been running a suspicious M-Pesa PayBill which looks like a well-orchestrated scheme to extort money from innocent viewers and listeners.
Top talents at the Upper Hill-based radio station owned by the cash-strapped National Mirror Media Limited are literally fleeing away due to the toxic working environment and unpaid dues.
Wa Iria had promised the gullible presenters heaven on earth before they quit their previous well-paying jobs in stable companies.
The troubled TV and radio stations have had to go off-air several times this year.
Just weeks ago, auctioneers raided his business premises.
The TV news desk is now at the mercy of interns, who have also threatened to leave the station owing to the heavy workload.
