To Whom It May Concern:
Growing up in Kenya we were always taught from a tender age that we need to be warm to all our visitors from all walks of life. To date, ‘the how’ of welcoming visitors has remained integral part of Kenyan families and the Kenyan culture.
With such upbringing, we find it almost impossible to stand against any foreigners that mistreat us or explicitly expose us to racial discrimination right within our borders. We have even settled with the notion that it is okay for them to earn more even though we have the qualified manpower for the positions they take. In some cases, we bend over backwards to ensure that they are comfortable while making every effort to teach them a word or two of Swahili like ‘Jambo’ and ‘Hakuna Matata.’ Despite all these, there are a number who do not deserve our hospitality under any circumstances.
Just the other day while having coffee with my friends, I got wind of some very disturbing story. In fact, I found it hard to believe what I heard. I got to learn that at some leading hotel, the General Manager of Asian Origin called security on one of the Managers after he resigned that morning. I was surprised but my heart completely sank when I learnt that the GM in question was one notorious Moshi Perera who had previously been at Sankara. He is pure trouble and many have suffered under his watch, including myself while working at Sankara, Nairobi. What I do not understand is how he has been able to land another lucrative job yet he has so many pending court cases. How does this go unnoticed by those concerned in the Kenya government? Is it pure corruption? Is he simply more equal than ‘normal’ law abiding citizens of this great nation?
While at Sankara, Moshi Perera was ruthless and broke every rule of the Kenya Employment Act without blinking an eye. He had the HR department under his complete influence and they simply danced to his tune at every turn. I remember how he would also call security on any employees that he did not like. I also remember one poor lady who decided to tender her resignation and immediately after that Moshi instructed the HR department to serve her with a termination letter. She therefore left without nothing, not even her dignity. Another employee was bundled out of their office and put in confinement by security against their will. It was an extremely low moment at the hotel. Before long a few employees filed cases in court for the mistreatment and these are still ongoing years later, unfortunately. Why do we still have this unprofessional foreigner working in Kenya and earning big money yet he has destroyed many lives? Why hasn’t anyone from Sankara raised the issue of Moshi’s introduction of Alco-blow to the work place? We had Alco-blow administered on colleagues by force yet it was not even company policy. Is this at all legal in Kenya?
I have since learnt that this is STILL Moshi Perera’s professional approach to work, to date. He still employs these backward methods to intimidate staff and colleagues at his current station. I understand that top level staff are leaving and more are definitely on the way, as he is just too much. He has no idea of people skills or team work but works best by micromanaging, interfering, threatening, shouting, and intimidating. I am a saddened Kenyan. No Kenyan deserves such treatment from our visitors. It is time that these foreigners got screened more closely before being allowed to work in Kenya or else the situation will only get worse.
I may be wrong but I’m convinced that Fairmont The Norfolk does not deserve a General Manager such as Moshi Perera whose picture is attached.
