KQ chief executive Sebastian Mikosz. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya Airways chief executive Sebastian Mikosz has termed
“groundless and unjustified” claims on social media that he earns a
monthly salary of over Sh8 million.
In
a statement sent to newsrooms, Mr Mikosz said his monthly salary was
Sh2.7 million, which was subject to 29 per cent income tax that he pays
to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
SH70 MILLION
He
also denied that the national carrier is headed by a coterie of 21
expatriates who take home a combined Sh70 million per month.
“The
authors of this letter did not check the basic facts so as to mislead
the public. I would like to assure you that I am not taking the efforts
at misinformation and defamation lightly and I’ve already taken legal
action against individuals and groups spreading the defamatory
statements. Let the courts objectively assess the facts and pass
judgment,” he said.
The claims that
were widely circulated by blogs quoted a statement from the Kenya
Aviation Workers Union (Kawu) secretary general Moss Ndiema.
This came as KAWU members downed their tools
on Wednesday, paralysing business at the Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport (JKIA) while protesting against the planned takeover of the
airport by Kenya Airways.
Mr Ndiema is in police custody after he was arrested during the Wednesday protests.
Said
Mr Mikosz in the statement: “As of today, KQ employs 18 expatriates,
including all secondments, out of the total number of more than 3,000
employees. This is approximately 0.6 per cent of the entire KQ staff.”
FOREIGNERS
He added that of the 18 foreign employees, five are KLM managers seconded to Kenya Airways.
Two of them are occupying senior positions of chief operating officer and head of global sales.
“Although
they work for KQ, they remain KLM employees. Their salaries and any
other benefits are covered by KLM. This means that no one in KQ has
access to that information. The amounts in the public domain are,
therefore, purely fictitious and aimed at creating negative emotions in
the working environment,” he said.
He said of the top 50 managers, seven are foreigners, representing just 14 per cent of the leadership team.
“This
means our company is run by a strong contingent of Kenyans who
represent 86 per cent of the highest positions in the company. The
remaining seconded employees ensure knowledge transfer and address
competency gaps in the areas of financial modelling, building business
cases and coordinating the strategic projects.
“They
leverage experience gathered in the restructuring of companies in
Europe. This also relates to the team of seven consultants, commonly
referred to as the ‘polish team’. Moreover, fees for their services are
also much lower than of the consulting companies that supported KQ in
the past,” he said.
INTERVIEWS
Mr
Mikosz defended two women senior managers, Angela Nderu and Catherine
Kamau, who he said earned their positions through merit.
“Angela
has grown in KQ and is a great example of a policy of promoting
internal talent to key positions. She has worked in KQ for more than 10
years. She studied abroad, gained international experience and was
promoted to become the Head of the Strategy Team. Catherine has a
sizeable international experience in airlines from Abu Dhabi and from
Seychelles. She was recruited directly by our previous CCO and went
through a normal process of interviews. She decided to come back to
Kenya to take the position of Head of Marketing,” he said.
He also defended his wife, Magda Mikosz, against allegations that she works in Kenya.
“My
wife does not and has never worked for Deloitte Kenya. Magda worked as a
partner for Deloitte Central Europe in the past. When we moved to
Kenya, she decided to stop working, leave Deloitte and support me in my
current role,” he said.
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