The story of Du Ying and Sanjiu Group of Companies is no longer just office gossip. It has become a quiet emergency for the Kenyan workers who once helped build the firm and are now being ground under its wheels.
A few months ago, attention was drawn to this Chinese director. What has emerged since then is far uglier. Staff describe a workplace ruled by contempt. Salaries arrive late or arrive short.
The recent government-mandated minimum wage increases were ignored. Working hours stretch far beyond what the law allows. Unfair deductions appear without explanation. There is no medical cover. When someone falls ill or is injured, they are left to manage alone. In some cases they are simply shown the door so the company can avoid responsibility.
One driver learned this the hard way. He was involved in a serious road accident while on duty. Instead of receiving the care and compensation Kenyan labour law requires, he was dismissed.
The same Kenyans who helped the company climb were discarded the moment they became inconvenient.
At the same time, Du Ying has been bringing in Chinese nationals to head departments, many of them reportedly less experienced than the locals they displace. Some of these expatriates, according to workers, operate without proper work permits.
They mistreat junior staff with impunity because the director allows it. The pattern is clear: Kenyan labour built the success; foreign labour now claims the authority and the rewards.
She moves easily among powerful figures in government. That access appears to have bought silence. While she dines with the influential, the people who keep her offices running quit in steady numbers, worn down by conditions they describe as difficult, unbearable and unsustainable.
Employees are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the basics the law already guarantees: fair pay on time, reasonable hours, medical protection, and dignity when they are hurt doing their jobs. Labour offices, the Kenya Revenue Authority and independent auditors have a clear duty here.
A thorough inspection of Sanjiu Group’s practices is overdue.
What is happening inside this firm is not an isolated management style. It is a test of whether Kenyan workers can still expect the protection of their own laws when a well-connected foreign director decides those laws are optional. The longer the silence continues, the clearer the answer becomes.
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