The day Kenya workers’ anger boiled over

• President Kibaki, Vice- President Kalonzo Musyoka and Prime Minister Raila Odinga gave the Labour day celebrations a miss.
• The workers heckled persistently as Munyes tried to extol the government’s achievements and its efforts to cushion them from the global financial crisis.
• Munyes was forced to skip large parts of the speech which had been prepared for delivery by President Kibaki to announce the wage increment.

Protests against the rising cost of living, job losses, low pay and failed leadership came to the boil on Friday when frustrated workers disrupted the presidential Labour Day address delivered by Labour minister John Munyes.

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They expressed their frustrations despite being awarded an 18 per cent pay increase for the lowest paid workers in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu bringing their pay to Sh6,130 a month.

The entire top leadership of President Kibaki, Vice- President Kalonzo Musyoka and Prime Minister Raila Odinga gave the celebrations a miss. President Kibaki and Mr Odinga were in Nairobi while Mr Musyoka was said to be in his Mwingi North constituency.

The workers heckled, threw stones and generally interrupted the official speech forcing the minister to skip some sections and eventually abandon his address.

And as the ceremony drew to the end, the workers staged a walkout while government officials scrambled to have the National Anthem played to signal its closure. Some workers also threw stones at the dais where VIPs sat.

Religious and civil society groups have recently taken the government to task over the rising cost of living, insecurity and hunger. The National Council of Churches of Kenya describes President Kibaki’s leadership as moribund and Mr Odinga’s as ineffective.

Recent opinion polls also showed most Kenyans were dissatisfied with the government.

These public grievances were on Friday expressed in constant heckling in which the crowd shouted “Unga (maize flour)!”, “Stima (electricity)!”, “maisha ngumu (Life is too hard)!” and “Migingo!”, the latter in reference to Kenya’s diplomatic approach to the dispute with Uganda over a Lake Victoria island of that name nominally controlled by Kampala.

The main celebrations at Uhuru Park in Nairobi started on a low note before Central Organisation of Trade Unions secretary-general Francis Atwoli worked up the crowd by raising concern over ills facing the nation and urged them to be patient as Mr Munyes had “good news” for them.

However, Mr Munyes, who was the chief guest, was jeered when he stood up to speak and announced that he had been sent by President Kibaki to deliver his message.

The workers heckled persistently as the Turkana North MP tried to extol the government’s achievements, efforts to cushion them from the global financial crisis, create more jobs and improve infrastructure.

The minister, who was accompanied by Education minister Sam Ongeri, was forced to skip large parts of the speech which had been prepared for delivery by President Kibaki to announce the wage increment in an attempt to pacify the crowd.

“Due to the rising cost of living and in order to protect workers who are not covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreements, I direct that the statutory minimum wage be increased with immediate effect,” Mr Munyes announced, amid applause from the workers who only seconds earlier were hostile to him.

He set the minimum wage for agriculture sector workers at Sh3,043 and for those under the general category in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu cities at Sh6,130.

Workers in all municipalities including Mavoko, Ruiru and Limuru Town councils will now pocket Sh5,655 while those in “all the other areas” will pocket Sh3,270.