East African Portland Cement Woes Continue: All Top Managers Have Been Fired

Barely two months since the East African Portland Cement declared all positions redundant, East African Portland Cement has yet again fired all top managers as it continues to restructure the company.

EAPCC acting Managing Director Stephen Nthei told Business Daily that new and leaner management team will be in place by October 19 when the dismissed workers are set to exit

Reports indicate that the firm issued a dismissal notice to 36 supervisors and manager, some of the top bosses will be rehired but with a 40 percent pay of their previous salary.

The cement maker plans to cut workforce by a quarter from the current 800 employees.

Sacked employees’ roles will be merged and salaries reduced to keep the struggling firm afloat, they will be granted a window period of 30 days to reapply for their positions.

“We will give the affected workers first priority to re-apply for their positions under new terms,We have a workforce whose total cost compared with productivity is very high,” Mr Nthei said.

In the last three years, the company’s market share reduced drastically affecting negatively on sales and profitability, the firm posted a 30 percent increase in loss to Sh1.26 billion for the half-year ended December 2018.

The company is crumbling under KSh10.8 billion debt and has always blamed a sluggish market, high cost of inputs, and production difficulties for the poor performance.

Part of the restructuring plan also entails the sale of the firm’s ,2000 acres of prime but idle land in Mavoko, Machakos, to boost its finances.

Featured Image Courtesy: Kbc.co.ke