[kictanet] Dr. Ndemo & the KBC Staff Strike

Fri Mar 9 23:00:40 EAT 2012

Um, the right lawfully to withdraw one's labour is a basic human right.
Unless you have some reason to think that the strike is unlawful, you may
be better off supporting the people on strike.

And, to be honest, if ever there was a country where capital is eating
labour alive,  Kenya is it. I've seen credible argument that our living
standard is now below that enjoyed in the late colonial era. Perhaps the
greater power of unions in the late 50s has something to do with it.

Daniel Waweru
www.kenyaimagine.com
Art and analysis; debate and opinion.

On 9 March 2012 13:56, robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> They should be FIRED.
>
> Robert Yawe
> KAY System Technologies Ltd
> Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> Kenya
>
> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
> *To:* robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
> *Cc:* kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> *Sent:* Thursday, 8 March 2012, 11:43
> *Subject:* RE: [kictanet] Dr. Ndemo & the KBC Staff Strike
>
>  Robert
>
> Yes KBC has a HR department. It is one of the nine departments of the
> Corporation with others being finance and administration,
> ICT, units for audits and procurement, radio services, television
> services, news and editorial, technical, and sales. It also has a
> strategic plan (2007-2012).
>
> I was involved in a study on '*Public Broadcasting in Africa series*',
> and I was the Kenyan Researcher. This is a project that was supported by
> the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP)  the Open
> Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA). The study was launched by PS
> Ndemo in October last year. Please see chapter 6 on KBC as a Corporation
> (from pg 69),  and chapter 7 on how it is funded. KBC has had funding
> challenges. PS Ndemo has been instrumental in pushing for reinstatement of
> funding for KBC from exchequer (just giving credit where due), and by
> institutionalizing this funding as stipulated in the *The Broadcasting
> Regulations 2009 in section 11(2)**.*
>
> For more please refer to the full study.
> http://www.afrimap.org/english/images/report/MAIN%20report%20final%20web%20res.pdf
>
>
>
> Some concerns raised:
>
> 1.    KBC has substantial debts. Some going way back to 1989. As of May 2009,
> a massive Kes. 8.2 billion  was owed to the government of Japan for the
> installation of medium wave (MW) transmission stations. This project was
> part of an agreement concluded between the two governments in 1989.  MW
> is an obsolete technology and changing from MW to FM meant additional costs
> for KBC.  Before the launch, it was reported that the government had
> agreed to negotiate with its Japanese counterpart on how to deal with the
> debt with a view to having it written of.
>
> 2.    The KBC board needs to be knowledgeable, comprising people with an
> education and with skills in areas indicated in the KBC Act section
> 4(1). This requirement to have board members with specialized skills has
> not always been followed. In the course of the research, I was informed
> that  KBC has even at some point had board members who had no inkling of
> specific tasks of the broadcaster. Many are the times when the board has
> had members who are retired civil servants and politicians who did not
> make it to Parliament as a way of being rewarded.
>
> 3. KBC has a staff contingent of 890 members excluding artistes,
>  marketing freelancers and part-timers. Between 2005 and 2008, the
> Corporation reduced its  workforce drastically from 1 300. Artistes are
> like correspondents who have a retainer (not a salary). This is a bloated
> workforce.
>
> 4. The salaries of KBC staff – the middle and lower levels in particular
> – are low and out of kilter with those in the wider broadcasting
> industry. The low salaries have resulted in a high staff turnover as
> other stations offer better pay packages: This happens especially after
> staff have undergone training which KBC provides in conjunction with
> international organisations such as the BBC and Deutsche Welle (DW).
> Infact there are unconfirmed reports that the entire KBC Maasai service has
> been poached by a competitor. Staff also complained on the way promotions
> have been effected suggesting favoritism.
>
> The study makes several recommendations for example the need for a new KBC
> Act that  guarantee editorial independence for the KBC, and has a design
> for a modern organisational structure. Further, after the enactment of new
> legislation for the KBC and the establishment of a new board, *the
> government should take over all debts on the Corporation’s books to enable
> KBC make a new start with a clean slate.*
> * *
> Rgds
> GG
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> If you have the strength to survive, you have the power to succeed. Life
> is all about choices we make depending upon the situation we are in. Go
> forth and rule the World!
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 05:57:01 +0000
> From: robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Dr. Ndemo & the KBC Staff Strike
> CC: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com
>
> PS Ndemo,
>
> Just a quick question, does KBC have a HR department?
>
> Regards
>
> Robert Yawe
> KAY System Technologies Ltd
> Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> Kenya
>
> Tel: +254722511225 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
> +254722511225      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, +254202010696begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
>             +254202010696      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "bitange at jambo.co.ke" <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
> To: robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Sent: Tuesday, 6 March 2012, 13:14
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Dr. Ndemo & the KBC Staff Strike
>
> >
>
>
>
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