The Diamond Trust Bank has donated foodstuff worth Sh2.5 million to 1,000 needy families in Kieni West, Nyeri county.
DTB chairman Linus Gitahi said the beneficiaries were identified by the national government administrators and the office of the area MP Kanini Kega.
Gitahi spoke outside the Kieni West deputy county commissioner’s office in Mweiga on Friday during the flagging off of the distribution of the food donation
The families were to get food donations worth Sh2,500 per homestead.
“We have the list of the most deserving residents which was compiled by the administration through chiefs and their assistants and we have even visited their homes and confirmed that they were really needy people,” Gitahi said.
He said the bank has also contributed Sh50 million to the Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund at the national level.
The bank is using another Sh50 million to buy and directly distribute food to needy residents.
Gitahi said DTB has not laid off any workers despite the banking sector going through difficult times in the past including the interest rate cap and now Covi-19, pandemic.
“Since the rate cap where banks have undergone major challenges and even now with the Covid-19, DTB has not sacked one single employee,” he said.
He said companies should not lay off staff but instead sacrifice a bit of their profit and retain their workers.
Kega thanked DTB for the support saying it was a good example of what the other companies should do.
“You donated to the national kitty up there and now you have come here on the ground to also help,” Kega told Gitahi.
The MP said the work of fighting the adverse effects of Covid-19 should not be left to the government alone because everyone is challenged at the moment and that this is the time to come together.
He called on the private sector to stop sacking employees saying this is a difficult time for everyone.
“Please, even if you are going to lay off your employees, remember the time that those people have worked for you. These are challenging times and you should consider some of those decisions,” the MP said.
Edited by P.O