PHOTO CAPTION: SimplePay Capital Limited Over the past few weeks, this blog has grabbed the attention of our esteemed readers with an intriguing series of articles addressing the toxic working conditions within the Wazungu-dominated Kenyan FinTech community where oppression, mistreatment, and exploitation of employees is a common trend.
In our initial publications, we majorly focused on evils reported at Fourth Generation (4G) Capital Limited, a Nairobi-headquartered credit lending facility which began operations in 2013 and boasts multiple branches across the East African region but still treats its hardworking employees like trash.
https://nyakundireport.com/toxic-working-environment-at-wazungu-owned-4g-capital-limited/
As we came to learn, the company uses and dumps its Kenyan workers, which has resulted in a huge turnover rate.
They constantly place employees on trial and dismiss them on flimsy grounds.
Those who are lucky to survive the skewed disciplinary process are forced out through other mischievous means, like irregular layoffs disguised as redundancies.
On Wednesday, November 16, 2022, we reported on a looming legal battle between ex-staffers and rogue executives at the donor-funded organization after it sent away more members of its workforce without giving any prior information about such a monumental decision.
Up to 60 employees received the notice of redundancy.
But if their side of the story is anything to go by, there is certainly more than meets the eye.
They sniff a great deal of mischief in the termination of their contracts, which is why they decided to take their fight for justice to the courts, with the hope that the law will finally tame the unruly giant.
A day later, on Thursday, November 16, 2022, the story continued to unravel, with a rather interesting development in the saga cropping up.
Fresh information revealed that the disgraced firm has been exporting its suffocating toxicity to a lesser-known sister company, Simple Pay Limited, also headquartered in Nairobi.
Our sources explained to us that management-level administrators at 4G Capital Limited have been crossing over to Simple Pay, where they cheerfully extend their culture of treating native staff like trash.
Some notable figures mentioned were Atri Nilesh Jasani, Pabba Raju Sridhar, Rashesh Dilipkumar Adhyaru and Sabri Nilesh Jasani who act as directors.
With the help of a certain “Mr Muteithia”, the four were blamed for the chronic bullying of employees.
A female worker who wrote to us in confidentiality disclosed how she was recently left in utter shock after showing up to work, only to find her replacement already stationed at her desk.
They did this without any preceding communication regarding the supposed contract termination. “Imagine they already sent someone to report on Tuesday, yet they had not even given me notice,” she wrote to us in distress.
Hours after her story went viral across our platforms, the source has gathered the courage to spill more beans on shocking ethical malpractices which are pushing employees on the brink of depression.
Just like the case at 4G Capital, employees are bolting out of SimplePay at the slightest opportunity they find.
The level of unprofessionalism by the HR and Head of Operations is simply nauseating.
To begin with, suspicions are rife that the company is operating illegally without mandatory licenses.
They also force employees to work without a copy of their contracts.
Payments are issued via mobile money to avoid surveillance by Kenyan legal authorities.
On top of this, the recruitment process is one big joke.
Unqualified applicants with zero prior experience simply show up and are awarded positions.
This skewed operation is facilitated by Joyce, the Head of Operations, who is said to pocket hundreds of thousands in the form of bribes.
To make matters worse, the same employees tasked with the tedious job of instructing the untrained junior hirings are later kicked out of the company on flimsy grounds of non-performance. “Hi Nyakundi, Yeap, Hawa watu have alot of rot in that company. I wish naeza ongeza some more to that story. A lot of things are a miss. I know they won't pay me for those days I've worked this month, but ni sawa tu. Tangu tuingie branch, there are no licences. They pay you via M-Pesa. They give no copy of contracts to employees. This is factual information I am giving out. Others can also confirm this. A lot of people actually want to quit because you are called every now and then. Endless emails that can even affect one's mental health. So, from the hiring process, it's all messed up. The HR and Head of Operations don't hire qualified personnel. Some staff, especially the junior ones, pay money in the name of certificate processing fee and you just go for interview and say you were 'referred by Joyce' the Head of Operations and you get the job pap. They send untrained people to the field with zero experience. So, you train people for them, yet they fire you without reasonable course. For instance, they give you an unreasonable target, with untrained people yet hand out warning letters on the first week of the month,” the source said.
As we have pledged before, this blog will keep highlighting the plight of these oppressed Kenyans, who have found a safe solace on this platform.
We shall not stop amplifying their suppressed calls for help.
We encourage those silently suffering SimplePay to take the bold decision and reach out to us and speak up.
This toxicity is suffocating and must be brought to an end.