An Abuja-based journalist worked at Muraya Maina Njuguna’s Africa Equity Media (AEM) in 2022 but her employer has failed to pay her salary for the last few months of her employment period.
The journalist, who does not want to be named, told FIJ last month that instead of getting her salary, which amounts to a sum of $1,480, she got an overdose of failed promises from Njuguna.
Africa Equity Media is an online magazine headquartered in the United States which tells stories of Africans and people of African descent.
As of last month, the magazine owner was owing the journalist a total of $1,630. But he paid $150 out of the money on June 2, after FIJ had reached out to him.
The $150 payment
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About Africa Equity Media
The journalist said Njuguna offered her a full-time employment as West African Correspondent on February 2, 2022.
According to the journalist, her employer placed her on $6 per hour meant to be paid twice a month. Since she worked eight hours per day, she received $480 every two weeks.
She said her former employer was faithful with the payment until July, when he informed the team about his financial constraints.
FIJ learned that the owner of the magazine said he could only pay every month, as opposed to the previous twice-a-month agreement.
Although he paid the salary for that month, he owed $960 for August salary.
“In September 2022, he sent me an email that he couldn’t keep up with the full-time pay and said I should work part-time for 25 hours per week, and I accepted,” the journalist said.
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Ada’s offer letter
“Despite the fact that he did not pay for August, I worked part-time for September, October and the first four days in November. The sum of my entire salary from August to November 4 was $2,280.
“He called via WhatsApp in October and said he would pay $250 every week from the day he called that things had got better for the business. I continued working without being paid as I held on to his promises.”
Njuguna sent $250 to the journalist on October 21. The journalist said that was the last pay she received for the year.
“He kept promising and not fulfilling. On November 5, he chatted with me via WhatsApp that I should take a break for one month so he could come up to date with my pay. I did,” she added.
However, Njuguna neither paid her remaining salary nor asked her to resume work after the one-month break.
This journalist said she found that other staff members were still working, so she asked her former employer if she could resume but he told her to still hold on since he had not paid her, adding that he planned to reduce the team.
“In January 2023, he said we would hold a meeting on January 30. At midnight of the day of the meeting, he took me off the group without any prior information. The team comprised four Kenyans, two Nigerians and one Caribbean, but I learnt I was the only one that was removed,” she said.
The founder’s page on Facebook
“When he called me on WhatsApp the next day, I asked why he sacked me that way. He said he wanted me to work with him ‘directly’, and that he didn’t sack me.
“He said he would pay on February 10 but he only sent $250 on February 11 and promised to pay the balance in two weeks. I kept calling and sending messages at the said time but he declined.
“I sent him another message and told him I needed the money but he blocked me and sent an email that all communication should be done via email.
“He sent $150 on April 5, and he didn’t give any explanation. So far, he has paid just $650 out of $2,280. He is owing me $1,630,” the Abuja journalist told FIJ last month.
Since then, she said, Njuguna kept raising her hopes and then dashing them as he failed to pay what he owed her.
FIJ learnt that Njuguna promised to send this journalist her money on May 6 but later postponed it to May 12. He defaulted and still promised to pay on May 23 but he did not pay a dime throughout the month.
On June 1, FIJ reached out to Njuguna via email and WhatsApp, but no response had been received at the time of this publication.
However, he sent a $150 check to the journalist via MoneyGram on June 2 and told her he would pay more by June 23. Njuguna was yet to pay the remaining $1,480 he owed the journalist at press time.
The post Africa Equity Media Owner Pays Journalist With Failed Promises Instead of $1,480 Salary appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.