KBC MD says qualifications of all its workers would be scrutinised/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, March 5 – The troubled Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) is set to undertake thorough vetting of all its current employees.
Managing Director Waithaka Waihenya said on Monday that the qualifications of all its workers would be scrutinised in the process.
He told Capital News that a workload analysis has already been commissioned to look into the competency of workers there and the capacity needed.
“For the temporary employees, this is your chance to formalise your status here. Others have lapsed contracts and it is also a good chance for us to do a work load analysis and say whether we require all these people,” he said.
He said the restructuring was expected to trim down staff numbers and improve efficiency at KBC.
The MD spoke as workers at the State broadcaster extended their strike to the sixth day, demanding a 500 percent pay hike, better allowances and an overhaul of the ageing company.
“I do not want to say that the ones who are there are not competent but sometimes in a working environment, the relationship between employer and employee is one of I am selling my skills and you are buying them, if I withdraw that service of supplying my skills then you do not get paid,” Waihenya explained.
“The employer also has a right to say… look, I am looking for this kind of service and this is what I am willing to pay for it.”
Waihenya insisted that all permanent employees who did not report for duty by 10am Monday would be sacked. He stressed that they had no grounds for a strike as the management had been looking into some of their grievances.
“The Permanent Secretary himself came and addressed the staff about the medical cover. Procurement was going on. About the allowances they were complaining about, it is a huge amount of money and the PS promised that he had written to the Treasury seeking additional funds to be able to sort out that problem,” he recalled.
“As you very well know, that is a process. You do not say today that you need Sh30 million more from the government and you are given immediately.”
He urged temporary staff to take advantage of the situation and consolidate their positions at the State broadcaster.
Information Minister Samuel Poghisio and his Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo held a crisis meeting with officials from the Ministry of Labour and workers representatives on Monday.
The meeting was being held in a bid to break the impasse between the workers and management of the State broadcaster.
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