CS Davis Chirchir Struggles To Address JKIA Workers On Strike As They Heckle Him: "Adani Must Go"

• The strike of workers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) called for the intervention of Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir
• Chirchir sought to realise a return-to-work consensus with the striking workers to save travellers from the prolonged agony of cancelled flights
• The CS, however, faced objections from the workers who downed tools to protest the supposed takeover of the country's main airport by an Indian firm

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir had difficulty calming down the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) workers who downed tools for the better of Wednesday, September 11.

The airport staffers embarked on their industrial action to protest a supposed take over of the country's main airport by Adani Airports Holding Ltd, an Indian company.

How CS Chirchir was treated by JKIA angry workers

Travellers were left stranded at the airport, where routine operations stalled due to the strike.

Later in the day, the CS made his way to the airport to address the workers after being holed up in a meeting with their representatives.

Chirchir sought to assure them that the Cabinet would deliberate on the matter and that their jobs would not be on the line, as widely asserted.

His reassurances, however, did not convince the workers who chanted anti-Adani slogans, overpowering the CS, who had to pause his speech.

"We will be taking the concession agreement to Cabinet, and I want to assure you that the Cabinet is here to protect the interest of Kenyans," said Chirchir before being interrupted by the chants.

"Hiyo ni story. Adani must go! Comrades power," they said as the CS looked on helplessly.

The then CS redeemed himself and said;

"It is okay. You will listen to me and I will listen to you. Why don't we be patient with each other? Your secretary-general has said we have had a consensus on the way forward,"

Video; courtesy

Despite the hostility of its members to the CS, the Kenya Airport Workers Union (KAWU) announced calling off the industrial action.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, September 11, KAWU secretary-general Moses Ndiema stated that the strike had ended and that the staff should prepare to return to work.

This followed a meeting with the government and other relevant stakeholders, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) included.

He asked the workers to take their time to prepare and return to work, adding that the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) should facilitate them and that the return-to-work programme was underway.

Why JKIA workers went on strike

The workers consistently opposed the Indian company's takeover of the airport, expressing fears of drastic changes in their work contracts.

Adani Group would take over the airport for thirty years, during which it will undertake the expansion works.

Under tycoon Gautam Adani, the firm is to inject upward of KSh 230 billion in upgrading and managing the airport; it would then indefinitely retain an 18% equity stake in the airport's aeronautical business.

While the Kenyan government was excited about the deal, which it said would revitalise the country's aviation sector, the citizenry was up in arms.

The lack of transparency, the long-term implications of the lease, and its potential consequences are among the citizenry's concerns.

Civil society organisations, including the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), filed a lawsuit challenging the deal.

The petitioners were concerned that the lease agreement had numerous procedural irregularities.

Justice John Chigiti issued a conservatory order barring the company from taking over the airport until the matter is heard and determined.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke