Standard Group joins Mediamax in firing staff

By Newsflash Writer

Just days after Mediamax Limited—owners of K24 TV, The People Daily, Kameme FM and Kameme TV—announced intentions to lay off journalists, the Standard Group has followed suit with a similar move.

Newsflash has established that plans are in top gear to offload more staff as the company battles deepening financial woes.

Weeks into his new role as Acting Group Chief Executive Officer, Chaacha Mwita is leading the restructuring efforts that will see more jobs cut.

Mwita, who was appointed executive editor just a few months earlier, has been holding closed-door meetings with different departments for the second time in a week, delivering a blunt message: a new structure is coming, and some positions will be rendered redundant.

Many insiders believe this staff shake-up is Mwita’s way of retooling Standard’s media business for survival. However, the move may prove risky, as nearly all departments are already overstretched. Sources indicate that Mwita is also considering bringing back several high-profile names previously axed from the station and the newspaper as part of a possible turnaround plan.

The layoffs come at a time when the Standard Group is reeling from severe cash flow constraints, worsened by the freezing of its bank accounts by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). This has delayed payment of salaries for May and June. Some employees are owed arrears stretching back six months, while issues surrounding last year’s layoffs remain unresolved, creating further tension among staff.

In a bid to stabilize its finances, the company is banking on a Ksh1.5 billion rights issue to settle outstanding obligations to employees, former workers, suppliers, and KRA.

How Kenya’s two media giants are navigating the storm

Beyond finances, the company’s editorial climate is also shifting. Reports suggest that staff advocating for hard-hitting, independent journalism are being labelled “uncooperative.” According to a senior journalist aware of internal operations, there’s a growing perception that the group is leaning further into anti-establishment narratives.

This change has been partly attributed to the arrival of Alex Kiprotich from Nakuru, who is said to be influencing a pro-people, anti-government editorial policy. While this has earned praise from reform-minded readers, it has also attracted backlash from pro-state quarters and could ultimately impact government ad revenue.

The looming layoffs are likely to further hurt the company’s public image and relationships with advertisers—coming just months after the exit of former CEO Marion Gathoga-Mwangi, whose leadership was dogged by frustrations from top editors and internal resistance from conservative forces within the company.