Homeboyz Radio has terminated the services of ShaffIe Weru, Neville Muasya and Joseph Munoru aka DJ Joe Mfalme following public outcry over gender insensitive remarks on the radio station. The trio were accused of victim shaming a victim of sexual violence during the Lift Off morning show on Homeboyz radio.
“Homeboyz Radio and its parent company, Radio Africa has terminated the services of Shaffie Weru, Joseph Munoru and Neville Muasya” a statement from the radio station reads.
Read: EABL Suspends Advertising on Radio Africa Citing Gender Insensitive Remarks by Homeboyz Presenters
“The termination follows a comprehensive review of the comments made on the station on Thursday morning and their subsequent suspension from employment. Our partners and listeners will not be surprised by the termination as it is the right thing to do.” The statement read.
“The comments of said erstwhile employees were neither authorized, approved nor cleared with the company nor was the subject discussed and or authorized by the company’s senior leadership. We are deeply disappointed in their conduct.”
The case had attracted public outrage with many users calling on the company to take action against the presenters.
“We have determined that their conduct constitutes gross misconduct and an egregious breach of the company’s editorial policies. The company and its subsidiaries do not condone gender-based violence or any form of physical, verbal and emotional abuse nor does it subscribe to the view shared by the three employees.” The statement further reads.
Read also: Dj Joe Mfalme Moves To Homeboyz Radio After 12 Years At Capital FM
Radio Africa Group issued a statement following suspension of the three co-hosts for a period of two weeks.
On Saturday, EABL issued a statement suspending advertising with Radio Africa, citing the presenters’ comments as unacceptable.
“Consequently, beginning Thursday 26th March 2021, EABL paused all advertising on the RAG programmes related with these presenters” EABL said in the statement.
“As a precondition to revert to our advertising partnership, we have asked RAG to conduct due diligence in the selection of presenters and embed a robust consequence management plan on those that do not abide by the code of conduct.” EABL said.
Homeboyz Radio has said in their statment that it is committed to sensitizing its staff on the code of ethics and conducting training.
A number of netizens have called on Radio stations to employ qualified journalists and conduct thorough background checks before allowing anyone on air. This follows a culture of employing celebrities as opposed to qualified candidates in the mainstream media.
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