Complaints of nepotism, intimidation, harassment, unfair dismissals and an alleged sex scandal have rocked Coca-Cola Coastal Bottlers Limited, with employees accusing the company's top leadership of creating a hostile working environment while the firm allegedly continues to lose millions of shillings.
Workers at the Mombasa headquartered company are up in arms over what they describe as rampant nepotism, intimidation and harassment allegedly orchestrated by Seth Adu-Baah, the Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola Coastal Bottlers Limited, Joseph Yeboah Mensah, the Chief Commercial Officer, and another official identified only as Edward, who reportedly arrived in Kenya a week ago while the company was conducting a mapping exercise.
A source within the company, who sought anonymity for fear of victimization, claimed that the foreign officials allegedly do not fully understand the terrain or the prevailing working conditions in Kenya.
"Have worked here for years and actually with the look of things am not seeing the future, my colleagues Racheal and Nancy were sacked, she was a single mother and had a boy in the university. Actually Racheal has an ongoing court case as we speak and both are now suffering," she said.
The source further claimed that Joseph Yeboah Mensah and Seth Adu-Baah, who are said to be relatives from Ghana, have allegedly ganged up to intimidate local employees.
"Even the company is not doing well. There was a lady identified as Rose Piroma, commonly referred to as Mwende, who wanted to be accommodated as a distributor. She sweet talked Joseph to the extent of going with her to bed and Sh15 million was lost just like that," she added.
According to the source, Piroma allegedly went on to swindle another Sh6.5 million from a man identified as Karanja over another deal in Voi. The matter, she said, is currently before the court.
Expressing his dissatisfaction, activist Evans Momanyi of the Capital Youth Caucus Association (CYCA) said he is planning what he described as the "mother of demonstrations" to protest the claimed injustices.
"We can't allow our people to be intimidated. Our Constitution is very clear. Article 41 of the Constitution of Kenya guarantees every worker the right to fair labour practices, which explicitly includes the right to reasonable working conditions and fair remuneration. These guys are not motivated; they are harassed and intimidated left, right and centre. We can't allow that to happen," he said.
Investigations by our writer indicate that several members of staff have allegedly been laid off without reasonable explanation, among them Tonny and George, who are described by colleagues as hardworking employees.
Another investigation also claims that the two foreign nationals, Seth Adu-Baah and Joseph Yeboah Mensah, both Ghanaians, with passport numbers G5000105 and G3567994 respectively, might be in Kenya illegally.
At the time of going to press, both Joseph Yeboah Mensah and Seth Adu-Baah had not responded to our repeated phone calls seeking their comment and right of reply regarding the claims.
