AMH Workers Allege Fraud and Mismanagement Amid Salary Crisis

Alpha Media Holdings workers allege fraud and mismanagement, claiming unpaid salaries, scrapped benefits and unremitted deductions, as calls grow for a forensic audit and judicial management (image source)

HARARE — Serious allegations of fraud, looting and financial mismanagement have surfaced at Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), with employees claiming they have gone for more than a year without proper salaries while management continues to impose unilateral changes to contracts and benefits.

AMH, which owns NewsDay, The Standard, Zimbabwe Independent, Southern Eye and the Heart & Soul radio and television platforms, is accused by workers of presiding over a deepening labour crisis that has left staff unable to meet basic living costs. Employees say they went through the festive season unpaid and entered the 2026 school term without school fees, food money or transport, while management allegedly treats the situation as normal.

Unilateral Contract Changes and Scrapped Benefits

Workers allege that management has arbitrarily demoted staff and scrapped long-standing benefits without consultation or formal amendments to contracts. These include fuel allocations for senior staff and airtime allowances for all employees.

Employees fear the withdrawn benefits are being diverted for personal enrichment. “We are not being paid, and on top of that our allowances and benefits were illegally scrapped. Who is taking our benefits? This is serious fraud,” said one worker.

Another employee said the removal of benefits has erased salary differentials between senior and junior staff, with recent part-payments almost uniform across grades.

(image source)

Union Deductions and Medical Aid Claims

Further allegations suggest that AMH has been deducting Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) subscription fees from salaries but failing to remit them to the union. Workers also claim medical aid deductions continued to appear on payslips even as service providers denied treatment, forcing some employees to cancel their policies altogether.

Since last year, AMH has reportedly stopped issuing payslips entirely, leaving workers in the dark about their official salaries, deductions and arrears.

Part-Payments and Growing Suspicion

Earlier this month, employees received between US$50 and US$130 as part-payment for January 2025 salaries, amounts workers say are grossly inadequate and reflective of the scrapping of allowances rather than genuine wage payments.

Staff members dispute management claims that the company is financially distressed, arguing that the crisis is being deliberately engineered to mask internal looting. Reports circulating among employees allege that some senior officials are constructing mansions despite the company’s claimed inability to pay salaries, intensifying suspicions about the true state of AMH’s finances.

Calls for Forensic Audit and Judicial Management

Workers are now demanding the appointment of independent forensic auditors to investigate AMH’s financial affairs. Some employees have described certain managers as “good candidates for prison,” insisting that only an external probe can restore transparency and accountability.

Employees have filed claims with an independent arbitrator in Harare and are awaiting a ruling. Several workers warned that if the situation does not improve, they will push for AMH to be placed under judicial management, arguing that the current leadership has “totally failed” to run the company.