Workers are protesting an Indian company’s proposed takeover of Kenya’s main airport, leaving hundreds of travellers stuck.
On Wednesday morning, there were long lines outside Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi due to aircraft delays and cancellations.
Workers began a “go-slow” in protest of plans to lease JKIA to the Adani company for 30 years, in which they purposefully work slowly to cause disturbance.
The agreement, according to the airline workers union, is “opaque” and may result in job losses.
“Staff protests leave passengers stranded at Kenya’s main airport.”
The government, however, has supported the plan, claiming that private investment is necessary to modernise the airport because it is currently functioning at capacity.
According to video that aired on local station Citizen TV, scores of airport employees blasted plastic trumpets and screamed “Adani must go” on Wednesday morning. There also seems to be footage of a policeman using a baton to strike a demonstrator.
Those stranded at the airport included Wilma van Altena, who had been vacationing in Kenya but had to come home for a funeral. She told the BBC, “It’s been chaotic. When we arrived, there were hundreds of people outside the airport, and we stood around before eventually making it inside.”
“We don’t know anything. Nothing is posted on the boards, and the airline has not contacted us. I must return home, but I’m not sure when I will be able to.”
The men’s football team from Zimbabwe was likewise marooned. An unnamed source told the BBC that the team had travelled into Nairobi following a match in Uganda to qualify for the African Cup of Nations, but they had not been informed about their next journey to Harare.
Stewart Maclean of the BBC, who is in queue for a flight, reported that the hundreds of people waiting outside the airport at approximately 05:45 BST (07:45 local time) were composed, understanding, but impatient.
Pilots and cabin personnel were among those who were waiting, he added.
The Kenya Airports Authority announced in a statement that “minimum operations had resumed as of 7:00am.” “We are interacting with pertinent parties to resume activities in the meantime. We sincerely regret any trouble we may have caused and value your understanding and tolerance during this difficult period.
The government’s failure to release information on the agreement with the Adani Group prompted the Kenya Aviation Workers’ Union to issue an earlier warning of an ongoing strike.
The proposals were also opposed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Law Society of Kenya, who contended that it is irrational to lease a vital state asset to a private enterprise.
After the two parties presented a challenge to the High Court, the agreement was put on hold to give rise to a judicial review. A final court ruling has not yet been scheduled.
[BBC]
