This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
Kenya's blue-chip company, Royal Media Services, is facing a severe financial crisis, with allegations of massive looting and corruption at its core. According to multiple sources, the company is literally on its knees financially, with a deeply entrenched cartel milking it dry.
Despite commanding a huge advertising revenue of hundreds of millions of shillings per month, RMS is struggling to survive. The brazen cartels, experienced in operations at RMS, are said to be calculative with their dirty deals, aiming to permanently keep the top administration in the dark.
Interestingly, RMS resorted to cash generated from a gambling game, Shabiki Mbao, to settle last month's payment of employees. This is happening while millions of the company's cash are swindled through various cash baits laid by the hungry cartels, including a soaring number of ghost employees.
Employees at RMS are silently murmuring over the frequent salary delays, unlike the good old days when they would have their monthly pay wired by the 24th of every month. 'Things are tough, my friend. It always goes to the next month without pay as the management scavenges for funds which is being plundered anyhow,' lamented an anonymous source.
Several attempts to have HR Rose Wanjohi look into the matter have been met with fire and fury, with employees told point-blank that there is no money to cater for their salary increment. This has occasioned mass exodus of employees in search of greener pastures, as they curse HR Wanjohi for failing to adjust their salary despite the dynamic economy.
It is alleged that Wanjohi has employed her sister as a nurse with a zero job description and is earning a huge salary for doing nothing. Last month, a HR personnel identified as Sheila exposed Wanjohi as the mastermind of the grand theft currently taking place at RMS. When Wanjohi discovered that something was cooking against her, she immediately sent Sheila to a compulsory leave, paving way for a drama that later ensued.
