Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo on Friday, December 1 noted that Posta Kenya staff would receive their salary arrears by the end of December 2023.
CS Owalo, accompanied by Broadcast and Telecommunications Principal Secretary Edward Kisiang’ani, made the assurance when he appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Information, Communication and Technology.
Notably, he stated that the Ministry was working with the National Treasury to ensure that arrears amounting to over Ksh 610 million were settled.
“Among the issues we have discussed include the challenges faced by the Postal Corporation of Kenya concerning its financial status, liquidity issues, and most importantly, salary arrears for staff,” Owalo noted.
“We have informed the committee that the Postal Corporation of Kenya has been facing liquidity challenges arising from historical issues, but moving forward, we have explained that salaries of staff will be settled in no distant future,” he added.
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According to Owalo, several institutions owed the Postal Corporation billions of shillings, including the Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and Huduma Centre.
“The IEBC owns the postal Corporation of Kenya in excess of Ksh1 billion. We are requesting the national treasury that those monies that are being released to IEBC be based on a conditional arrangement, that at a minimum, Ksh550 million from that outstanding debt be channeled towards offsetting the debt,” he noted.
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On the other hand, Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei the chairperson of the committee, stated that the Committee was committed to seeing to it that the workers’ arrears are paid within the shortest time possible.
On his part, he urged the corporation to modernize its operations through digitalization of its services and utilization of e-commerce.
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Additionally, he appealed the Corporation to work with the Ministry of Lands and other government entities to ensure that all its offices have valid title deeds and create an asset registry.
Earlier Protests
Notably, the struggling state-owned company had failed to pay its employees for the past five months, pushing its arrears to Ksh504 million by the end of October.
The statement followed a strike held by the workers on November 2, when workers in several branches across the country protested over salary delays.
In October, the Communication Workers Union issued a strike notice to protest the delay in payment of salaries.
According to the union, more than 2,500 Posta Kenya employees were not paid for the last five months.
