A Standard Media Group employee who has gone for months without receiving a salary for his work threatened to commit to suicide at the media house’s headquarters along Mombasa Road.
The employee was captured on video in a desperate resolution that revealed the dire situation that many of the workers at the troubled media company are in.
“Right now, I am at the Standard Media who refused to hear what I am talking about. I need my money today. I am not leaving here without my money. I am leaving here in two ways… I either die or I get my money,” the distressed Standard Media employee said in the video. “Standard Media has refused to pay me… So I die here today or I get my money.”
After the incident went viral on social media, the Standard Media Group issued a statement in which it said that the worker was a freelancer and his immediate financial needs had now been addressed by the company.
“Our attention has been drawn to a distressing incident that occurred on our premises this afternoon involving one of our freelancers, who is currently on a sabbatical,” the Standard Media Group said.
Standard Media shuts down KTN News days after notice to fire 300 employees
“This incident, in which the individual recorded himself in a distressing situation, has profoundly affected us, and we want to express our sincere empathy and concern for our colleague. Following the incident, we were able to address the freelancer’s immediate needs.”
Workers at the media company have gone for as many as seven to ten months without getting paid. Distressing reports have alleged that some have at certain points resolved to sleeping at the media house because they are locked out of their homes for non-payment of rent.
Last month, the media company announced that it will be firing 300 workers from this month. The company has already shut down one of its prominent stations, KTN News, and moved content to KTN Home.
In its latest financials, the company posted a full year net loss of Sh. 1.26 billion for the twelve month period ended December 2023. This net loss was an increase from the 1 billion loss that the media house recorded in the previous 2022 financial year.
