Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) employees can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the ICT CS Eliud Owalo agreed to settle their five-month salary arrears.
This is after the Senate ICT Committee led by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei on Friday directed the Cabinet Secretary to ensure outstanding salaries are cleared before Christmas.
"Among the issues we have discussed include the challenges faced by the Postal Corporation of Kenya concerning its financial status, liquidity issues, and most importantly, salary arrears for staff," Owalo noted after appearing before the Senate committee.
"We have informed the committee that the Postal Corporation of Kenya has been facing liquidity challenges arising from historical issues, but moving forward, we have explained that salaries of staff will be settled in no distant future," he added.
The CS, nonetheless, attributed debts owed to the Corporation by other government institutions to the crisis being faced by Posta.
According to Owalo, several institutions owed the Postal Corporation billions of money, including the Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which was yet to clear its Ksh1 Billion debt accrued after enjoying courier services during the elections.
"We have given instructions to the Postal Corporation of Kenya that upon receipt of that money, the entire amount should go towards settling the five-month salary arrears of staff," Owalo announced.
Huduma Centre, managed by the Ministry of Public Service, was also accused of owing Posta close to Ksh1.6 billion for rental services.
While addressing the matter, Owalo pleaded with the Treasury to also fast-track the disbursement of capitation funds to allow the Ministry to settle the unpaid salaries.
He further assured the Senate that more measures had been put in place to ease the process of paying workers and promised to curb the reoccurrence of salary delays in the future.
Despite all the challenges, Owalo disclosed that his Ministry aimed to revitalise Posta through the introduction of e-commerce, leveraging technology to engineer the operations of the institution and enhance staff motivation.
Recently, the corporation unveiled long-distance buses to capitalise on the influx of travellers during the festivities to raise funds.
Posta had failed to pay its employees for the past five months, pushing its arrears to Ksh504 million by the end of October this year. To reduce its bloating wage bill, the company is on the verge of laying off about 504 workers by February next year.
