Even as the Britania CEO drives a Ksh 8 Million fuel guzzler, Britania employees have gone for months without a salary and not even the intervention of Labor CS Simon Chelugui has made them pay, let alone hold a meeting they promised to hold to resolve the issue after the editor of this site spoke to the CS requesting him to resolve the issue of the suffering employees.
As this was happening, the Britania CEO Mr Depak Shah bought a brand new car worth Ksh 5million last month. Our intelligence collection network informs us that the car is KDB 600W, Prado Tx.
The employees who have been camping outside Britania premises for more than a month are now asking the labour CS to do something because the company has completely refused to listen to them.
" The excuse that Tuskys went down with our salaries is petty, we just need our money," Says one employee that nyakundireport.com spoke to.
Britania was served with a letter from the labour office when they went to labour to follow up. They said they were to meet with a labour officer a Mr Kimeu who don't seem to care too about the matter. On 13th May after the editor of this site called CS Labour, sent his officer to the ground and was given the following update BRIEF ON THE BRITANIA COMPANY LIMITED EMPLOYEES OUTSTANDING SALARIES I make reference to a complaint raised in regards to the above subject matter, the Sub County Labour Officer Industrial Area visited the premises on the 13 th May 2021 and has given the following preliminary report following discussions with the Human Resource Manager:- 1. That the organization last paid the employees the salary for the month of February 2021. 2. That the Organization is involved in the production of biscuits, which they supply to various outlets major among them, was Tuskys supermarket. 3. That following the lockdown to mitigate the covid-19 pandemic, the employer increasingly encountered cash flow problems , which was further compounded by the closure of Tuskys supermarket without having paid for supplies delivered. 4. On the 10 th May 2021 the workers agitat ed for their outstanding salaries for the months of March and April 2021, by locking themselves in the work premises until they were dispersed by the police the following morning. 5. The Officer has established that the employer owes the (43) forty-three employees approximately Kshs 3.4 million for outstanding salaries for the two months. 6. That the employer is in negotiations with a new investor to inject more capital into the enterprise to rejuvenate operations and clear the outstanding salaries. 7. The operations of the employer are currently at a standstill owing to the impasse on the pending salaries. The Officer is making efforts to get the Director to commit to a time frame within which the salaries can be paid. The Department intends to initiate dialogue between the parties to resolve the conflict and formulate a long term remedy to safeguard employment and investment. Further reports verified by this site indicate that Mr Depak Shah also refused to sign a recognition letter for the Baker's Union so that he can be able to oppress workers. We have information that Britania management has been served with a letter from the workers union headquarters to sign by tomorrow 4th June 2021, or else they will be taken to court. "MD Dipak shah has self-interest in the company and he doesn't have the interest of the company and that of employees at heart. He brought the issue of employees to be paid half salary from last year May and now we are in May. Full-year and now we are in the 4th month with no pay" Says one employee. Though the employees indicate that the issue of Britannia workers can be solved by one man Mr Paul Kavuma a Ugandan by citizenship. He is the CO for catalyst investors who owned Britania food Ltd.
The workers are also appealing to Mr Kavuma to come out quickly and keep the promise he told the workers in Jan 2017 when he took over the Company from Jambo biscuits.
Mr Kavuma is a known billionaire, with a vast of companies in Kenya. He is one of the biggest shareholders at Prime bank. "Mr Kavuma should come out and stop Mr Depak Shah who is known for his style of management way back when he was working with Dodhia Packaging Ltd," Says a worker. BRITANIA EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN CAMPING OUTSIDE THE COMPANY AS THE CEO EMPLOYED MORE SECURITY OFFICER TO KEEP THEM OUTSIDE THE COMPANY PREMISES.