Employees of Baraka FM have reported that the station has undergone a prolonged period of financial instability throughout the year 2025, during which workers say they received only 2 salary payments that amounted to a fraction of their expected earnings, creating a situation that has left many staff members unable to meet essential obligations and deepening financial distress across the workforce.
One presenter recounted receiving Ksh 10,000 that management sent directly to her landlord in order to avert the closure of her residence, followed by a later payment of only Ksh 2,000, even though the salary backlog for that presenter, according to staff estimates, exceeds Ksh 100,000, a figure that has intensified frustration among employees who depend on regular income to maintain stability.
Workers state that the financial strain has been compounded by operational setbacks that unfolded within a period of less than 6 months, during which the station underwent an auction process that resulted in the removal of various assets, after which the team vacated its offices at Canon Towers, subsequently relocating to a modest bedsitter in Ratna, where employees say the quality of broadcast output deteriorated sharply, and where working conditions reportedly shifted from a professional environment to one marked by uncertainty.
According to employees, the organisation has continued to secure commercial assignments from firms such as Safaricom, Juicy Fruit, and KEMRI Wellcome Trust Kilifi, yet workers maintain that revenue from these engagements has not translated into timely compensation, leaving them with months of unpaid wages, and compelling many of them to assume personal debts in order to cover daily expenses.
Reports from workers also describe strained interactions with leadership, illustrated by claims that the chief executive sent transport funds as low as Ksh 100 to employees travelling from areas such as Mtwapa to Nyali, followed by demands for explanation and reimbursement whenever an employee failed to appear due to lack of return fare, a pattern that staff members describe as deeply demoralising, and which has strengthened their call for immediate settlement of all outstanding salary arrears, along with the establishment of a reliable, predictable, and enforceable payment structure.
Below is what some of the affected staff wrote to us.
“Jambo Cyprian. Kindly expose this tyrant management at Baraka FM. In the whole of 2025 they have paid the employees twice (12k). One of the presenters received a text from the landlord while on air nyumba inafungwa and the management decided to pay (10k) to settle the rent arrears. Imagine the next time they paid them their Ksh 12,000 they sent her Ksh 2,000. Mind you this is a person who is owed over Ksh 100,000 for the months she has not received the salary. In less than 6 months of their reign, the company was auctioned. Auctioneers walibeba hadi kichungi na tin ya majani and got chased out of Canon Towers and now are hiding in a bedsitter in Ratna where the SDA crusade audio quality is better than the one they have right now. The company has been getting business from Safaricom, Juicy Fruit, KEMRI Wellcome Trust – Kilifi but the management chews the money without paying the employees. You can imagine the CEO would send you Ksh 100 as fare and some are coming as far as Mtwapa and expect you to be at Nyali without fail. Usiposhow up juu fare ya kurudi home umekosa he calls you demanding an explanation and for you to return the 100 bob. We need to be paid promptly and all our arrears are cleared.”
