A storm is brewing at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Nairobi bureau over failure to address concerns raised with Sarah Gibson, the Head of International Bureaux regarding the management style of its International Hub Bureau Manager Pat Strong, which they say has made their lives unbearable. They are contemplating taking legal action against the British media giant, saying their concerns have been swept o.
In a memorandum delivered to Gibson when she was in the country in March, the staff, who are members of the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), had sought Strong’s removal, saying she was not the right person to continue heading the BBC family in Kenya, which has rapidly expanded recently to more than 300 staffers after the British broadcaster relocated to a bigger office in Riverside, Nairobi where its Africa Bureau is also located.
“The BBC family in Kenya is expanding with the World 2020 projects now on motion. We
are happy that the BBC has chosen to invest in our country, but the current IBM structure
in Nairobi has old ways of doing things which have since been passed on to some new
staff in the department,” they said.
They revealed many staff in the bureau felt harassed on the way they have been treated by the
IBM finance team and Strong in particular, but chose to suffer in silence. The BBC in 2016 signed a contract with IBM to supply finance, accounting, payroll and associated technology service, which it said was designed to deliver a simplified and efficient service that will make a significant contribution to BBC efficiency targets but to its staff, this appears not to have been the case.
“We feel with more than 300 staff members expected at 9 Riverside, we doubt she is the right person to create a good environment for a nutritious co-existence between new staff and the so called business as usual. It is against this backdrop that we are urging you to act and restore order and harmony in
Nairobi before things get out of hand. In fact the current BBC relocation project to the new building in Riverside is dogged with frustrations perpetuated by Pat Strong and I am sure this is now subject to a different inquiry that you may want to follow up,” the BBC staff wrote.
While acknowledging that there have been improvements in some areas, said there was still work to be done to achieve descent work environment, especially job security, freedom of employees to express themselves and participate in decisions that affect their lives as required by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
They said under Strong’s leadership, there was no room for social dialogue at the Nairobi office as recommended by the Kenyan industrial relations mechanisms, claiming Strong and one Samuel
Guchu are very rude while addressing staff on various issues including expenses and claims or requests for facilitation and at times intruding people’s privacy.
“We know you think the BBC has a right in this, but it is something we are willing to seek a legal interpretation on Kenyan terms,” the memorandum said.
The staff claimed some of their colleagues have been forced to leave the media house due to frustrations and lack of interventions to address their grievances, adding there was apparent discrimination based on whether one is a foreign or local journalist with staff being encouraged to join the Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) to which Ksh 4,000 fee was remitted each month while Strong appeared disinterested in KUJ.
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They also feel treated differently from foreign staff from the UK be it on the issue of staff relocation or on return from duty trip.
The staff’s claims, however, contradict the profile Strong, who was appointed Nairobi Bureau Manager in 1999 before being elevated, gives of herself on Linkedin where she describes her role to include giving “full and reliable support to all BBC editorial activity in Nairobi ensuring compliance with strategic priorities of all parts of the business and driving best practice.”
In her former role, she also said her duty was to ensure “full support to journalists at all times in every aspect from money through logistics to technical support.”
Here is the BBC STAFF IN NAIROBI memo in full. It was copied to KUJ Secretary General Erick Oduor.
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