The Kenyan media fraternity is under siege from rogue employers who make the industry unbearable. Redundancies recently hit Standard Group, and now Radio Africa is in the same boat.
The Kenyan media game is a mess. Journalists conduct surveys to identify people’s ideal employers, and some media companies appear on these lists. Total chaos.
For instance, what is happening at Radio Africa? The group has Kiss, HBR, Classic, East FM, Hot 96 etc. This is about PQ’s baby, Kiss FM.
Since the HBR takeover, rumours have spread that he wanted to merge the two by killing off HBR, which was a big competition for his Kiss FM.
They began stealing talent from HBR and transferring it to Kiss, a move that contradicted the original agreement. At the moment, there is a bizarre case of musical chairs in the stations.
Breakfast show.
Kwambox had resigned a month ago but changed her mind. For the breakfast show, Chito was her co-host. Now, it appears that Kerry Martin (HBR Drive) is shifting to Kiss Breakfast, leading to Chito’s displacement.
After Kamene’s departure, they moved him from Kiss Drive to breakfast. Kwambox requested that Kerry be her co-host, so she could stay. They previously worked together at the HBR drive show, and they also have a podcast together.
It’s very unfair to Chito, who’s been making all the moves and changes asked of him with minimal resistance or complaints.
Drive-show
PQ recently poached Mwalimu Rachel and DJ Xclusive. As a result, PQ expelled current Drive hosts Nadia (who left Capital FM to join Kiss) and Saina. Because of the non-compete clause in their contracts, their former employer demanded payment before they could go on air.
When Kibe and Kamene joined the team, the drama grew. They appear to have resolved this issue, given their current on-air presence.
According to inside information, these changes are haphazard. They don’t give a damn about the welfare of those evicted.
That HR office is one of the worst in the media fraternity. All they do is fire people or make them redundant.
There was never a discussion on career progression, employee welfare, or salary increments. When you request a pay increase, they put you on the “black book” for the upcoming round of layoffs.
Radio Africa used to occupy Lion Place’s 2nd and 3rd floors. COVID forced the closure of one wing on the second floor. Now they’ve closed the whole 2nd floor and only occupied the 3rd floor.
This retrogression is due to the obscure appointments that management makes.
Kiss TV
This could’ve been one of the group’s cash cows, but hiring a cool kid and clueless DJ as head of TV was a bad call. In the evening, the station had only one show. Every other minute, the station was just playing DJ mixes, and that’s how it died off.
HBR
Following the takeover, they brought in a new management team from a competing radio station. Clueless about HBR operations, they slowly brought it to its knees.
Major exits ensued (Kwambox being one of them) due to the poor management and HR skills previously alluded to. Now, sources claim the whole group is dwindling.