Former Inooro FM comedian and presenter, Njomo Wa Nyathira, has narrated how he nearly sunk into depression after losing his job at the media house.
Speaking in an interview on Friday, May 6, Njomo stated that he exited Inooro FM after the pandemic outbreak in 2020 and opted to hawk porridge to make ends meet.
This was after the media house declined to extend his three-month probation.
"I got a deal at Inooro FM on three-month probation before they assessed whether to hire me or not. The agreement was that I would not be paid for those three months."
“Just when I was to be given the contract the next week, the pandemic hit and the President said people had to work from home,” Njomo recalled.
He added that he was forced to relocate to the village where he set up a porridge shop.
"As a man, you cannot keep complaining that you cannot provide or make money,” he stated.
"Accepting my situation played a great role in helping me get out of depression. It is not easy but accepting that you are no longer where you were before helps. People will talk but in the end, life continues,” Njomo stated, adding that he was not bothered by the naysayers.
He also recalled nearly resorting to alcoholism, but his family led by his mother stood by him.
Journalists and media companies staff were asked to take pay cuts, with some stations retrenching their employees.
“Since the pandemic hit Kenya, media houses have been laying off journalists and support staff, and enforcing pay cuts. The pandemic exacerbated an already dire situation, with more than 300 journalists having lost their jobs in the past nine months,” the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) noted at the time.
“We are also distressed by the unprofessional methods employed by some, such as notifying employees by SMS, that they have been retrenched. Laying off workers is not a matter to be treated casually.”
