Fresh allegations have emerged from within Telkom Kenya, painting a grim picture of exploitation, corruption, and poor treatment of employees.
Whistleblowers claim that the company’s top executives, including several foreign managers, are enriching themselves through dubious outsourcing arrangements while local workers go for months without pay.
The situation has reportedly created anger and hopelessness among the staff, who say their hard work only benefits a small group of senior officials.
According to testimonies shared with Cyprian Is Nyakundi, a whistleblower from within Telkom said that staff morale has hit rock bottom due to mismanagement and financial irregularities.
The employee revealed that foreign executives at the company earn lavish salaries while receiving constant travel perks funded by Telkom’s shrinking resources.
“Hi Nyakundi. Kindly keep my ID disclosed. I am an employee of Telkom Kenya. Staff are frustrated so much due to incompetence in management. The staff work hard to generate income only to be misappropriated by the top management. Foreigners are siphoning Telkom dry,” the message read.
The whistleblower went on to name several senior officials allegedly at the center of the scandal. Among them is Chief Operating Officer Ali Kosi, described as a foreigner based in the United Kingdom who reportedly earns between KSh 2.1 million and KSh 2.7 million per month, in addition to frequent, fully funded trips to the UK every two weeks.
Another senior figure mentioned is the Chief of Customer Care Service, an Indian national, said to earn between KSh 1.9 million and KSh 2.1 million monthly, also enjoying similar privileges.
The Head of Products, identified as Erick Reginders, is reportedly paid around KSh 1.9 million monthly.
The most alarming part of the claims concerns outsourcing contracts that whistleblowers say are controlled by the same senior executives. They allege that the COO and CEO secretly own the outsourcing companies from which Telkom hires staff.
These firms, named as Marathon, Bushnel, EOST, CDL, and SAAVA, reportedly charge Telkom inflated rates for each employee while paying the actual workers very low wages. Despite the high payments made by Telkom to these firms, many outsourced staff have allegedly not been paid for several months.
The situation is especially severe for employees under SAAVA, who are said to have gone four months without receiving salaries even though Telkom has already settled their payments with the company.
Workers claim they are being exploited as executives continue to grow wealthier, building private properties in places such as Westlands, Karen, and even London.
These revelations have intensified concerns about foreign influence and corruption within Telkom Kenya. Employees insist that the rot at the top is draining the company of its potential and destroying livelihoods.
Many are now calling for investigations into the conduct of senior management and the outsourcing firms connected to them, hoping that accountability will finally replace the exploitation that has taken root in one of Kenya’s oldest telecommunications companies.
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