Telkom lay-off plan may delay
Information and Communication minister Mutahi Kagwe (right) receives a Sh200,000 donation from the chairman of Telecommunication Service Providers Association, Mr Joseph Mucheru, at his Teleposta Towers office in Nairobi yesterday.
The privatisation of Telkom Kenya may be delayed as the Government has no funds for it.
There is no money to pay off some workers and carry out other reforms, Information and Communications minister Mutahi Kagwe said yesterday.
"We are still looking at avenues of raising funds, and we are exploring all options," he said after opening a political parties' meeting at the Kenya College of Communication and Technology at Mbagathi, Nairobi.
Information and Communication minister Mutahi Kagwe (right) receives a Sh200,000 donation from the chairman of Telecommunication Service Providers Association, Mr Joseph Mucheru, at his Teleposta Towers office in Nairobi yesterday. The cash will be used for famine relief.
Photo/Joseph Mathenge
The announcement puts Kenya at the risk of losing a Sh30 billion World Bank loan. Last year, the country director, Mr Collin Bruce, said the Government had to fulfill conditions it agreed to in the next seven months, among them the Telkom sale and fighting corruption.
He said the multilateral donor organisation would until June monitor how Kenya was tackling the terms before making a decision on the loan.
Other avenues to be studied
But Mr Kagwe said yesterday that the country would not rely on only the World Bank for the Telkom reforms. "We will study other avenues thoroughly," he added. "We have assets and shares which we can sell."
The minister said the retrenchment had to be done humanely. "We are not going to send employees home with a package that will make them dependents," he said.
At the same time, the minister said an information communication and technology (ICT) policy paper was approved by the Cabinet last week.
It would allow the tabling of the ICT Bill when Parliament resumes in early March.
ICT experts have been seeking ways to streamline and develop the sector, arguing that lack of an open policy had not only led to the current high tariffs in fixed-line telephony and international and mobile voice communication, but also denied Kenyans access to new technologies.
Entering into partnership
Mr Kagwe said also that the Government was contemplating entering into a partnership with a private organisation to save Gilgil Telecommunication Industries from collapse due to cash-flow problems.
At another function, he asked Telkom employees to continue working normally despite the retrenchment plan. They should do so until the last day as they will be given "a good package," he added.
He was reacting to claims of laxity due to lack of morale after the ministry announced recently that 11,000 out of the 18,000 of them would be sent home.
Mr Kagwe was speaking at his Teleposta Building offices in Nairobi after receiving Sh200,000 from the Telecommunications Service Providers Association to fight famine. Wananchi Online also donated Sh100,000.
