Mediamax Network Ltd plans to scale down its operations in Central Kenya next month as part of austerity measures that were initiated last year.
The move will see key staff based at the media house’s Nyeri bureau relocated to its DMS place head office along Kijabe Street in Nairobi with those remaining operating from a cheaper, smaller office establishment.
The initial plan was to close down all its regional bureaus with the exception of Mombasa but this was shelved after protests from editors across the board who feared it would complicate their news gathering processes especially as the country heads to a General Election next year.
At the time, Mediamax Chief Operating Officer Ken Ngaruiya had told the editors to do a detailed brief for presentation to the board but nothing has been heard about the issue since then.
Apart from Nyeri and Mombasa, Mediamax, which owns K24 television, the People Daily newspaper and a host of FM radio stations, also operates bureaus in Nakuru, Kisumu and Eldoret.
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Last year, the media house undertook a massive staff rationalisation programme that saw about 50 staff members retrenched. There are fears that if the latest plan is implemented as previously envisaged, it could result in a number of redundancies.
The company, which is associated with, among others, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family as well as Deputy President William Ruto, had also earmarked a number of assets including vehicles and TV and radio studios at Longonot Place in Nairobi for sale, as top managers sought to reduce operating costs and make it live within its means as demanded by investors.
