Kenya: Ministry of Labor investigates allegations of racism by RLS workers

Nairobi – The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare has formed a team to investigate allegations of racism and discrimination in the Standard Gauge Railway's Madaraka Express train service.

While announcing the constitution of the team The secretary of the Labor Council, Ukur Yatani, said Wednesday that he was expecting to receive a report in a week

"If l & rsquo Investigation reveals violations of any section of labor laws, appropriate corrective measures, including lawsuits, will be taken.Government spokesman, Eric Kiraithe, however, is praised for a proposal of the Central Organization of the Central African Republic, according to which the Government, through its spokesperson, denied any alleged discrimination of Kenyan workers by their Chinese counterparts

The Secretary General of Trade Unions, Francis Atwoli, asked a labor agent to monitor the operations at Madaraka Express

"The proposal of Atwoli is a proposal that I would consider sober, but there are problems that can be examined in co resulting from the responsible ministry. Having a labor agent will give us the opportunity to have a balanced view of things, "he said.

The government spokesman defended the management of the railways for having respected a confidentiality code. Kenyan workers

"A railway line is a critical infrastructure and a security installation from elsewhere." Kiraithe dismissed reports of racial discrimination by Standard Gauge Railway's Madaraka Express train service workers as unfounded and ill-intentioned journalists. "While the government is there to protect the individual rights and dignity of every Kenyan, the workplace culture haki yetu (in search of oneself) has no place in the Madaraka Express.

Kiraithe stated that the SGR train services had to be executed with military precision to ensure smooth operations.

"We currently manage about six trains a day; The National Government Communication Center has accused unidentified people of ganging up against the RMS project by saying that workers who get along with the "hostile forces" will be fired. According to Kiraithe, the government is committed to progressively integrating Kenyan workers into senior positions in GIS train operations, with the first phase planned for 2020 on track.

He stated that a greater number of Kenyans in 2022, with the final transfer of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) by 2027.

"It would be very unfortunate that after the end of the period, we went out looking for expatriates because we are skidding several times, the trains do not arrive at the hour, and they run out of fuel half way " , noted Kiraithe

"Staff members working with people against RMS This project will not have its place in Madaraka Express because we are determined to build a human resource base that will ultimately badume the responsibility of train management, "he added.

The RMS currently employs close to 3,000 workers with more than 1,600 Kenyans.

Reports of Kenyan workers being abused by their Chinese counterparts, who should to be around 870, appeared on the r social networks recently and were then picked up by mainstream media this week.