‘Standard’ Gifts Posho Mill To Vendor Who Has Worked For Them For 51 Years

The Standard Group chief executive Orlando Lyomo has gifted Walter Odum, a newspaper vendor who has worked with them for 51 years with posho mill.

Odum, 69, retired from the job on Friday after selling hundreds of thousands of newspapers for the company, earning them millions in revenue.

Odum started selling the then East African Standard, Kenya’s oldest newspaper, in 1968.

The best record for the vendor was in July 1969 when he sold 200 copies by 10am following the assassination of former Economic Planning minister Tom Mboya.

He also sold the same number of copies following the assassination of controversial Nyandarua North MP JM Kariuki, in 1975.

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The Standard Group’s General Manager for Sales and Administration, Moses Ocholla, said the company decided to gift Odum with a posho mill to enable him continue earning a livelihood after retirement.

A modern brand new posho mill costs up to Ksh60,000.

Despite the good intentions of the company, the ‘gift’ looks insulting to a person who has diligently worked for a company for over 50 years.

Owing to the fact that such workers are not subscribed to any retirement scheme, it is good to honour them with a better gift that will help them sustain their current lifestyle, if not making it better.

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For instance, for Odum, if the posho mill breaks down after just a month, he might not be able to repair it, or maybe he might not have means to start and sustain the business.

With such employees, it is good to offer them reasonable pay cheques for them to start businesses that they feel free and passionate about, rather than dictating what their retirement life will be like.

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