Union vows strike action over plan to sell port

A meeting to discuss the privatisation of Mombasa port turned stormy when the giant Dockworkers’ Union rejected the plan on Monday.

Speakers who supported the privatisation of four berths at the port were heckled by the hostile union members and some had to walk out of the Bandari College amphitheatre in protest before the talks ended.

Not even pleas by the provincial commissioner, Mr Ernest Munyi, or the Kenya Ports Authority MD, Mr James Mulewa, could convince the rowdy union members to listen to presentations by members of the Privatisation Commission of Kenya.

However, the executive director of the commission, Mr Solomon Kitungu, later said that the privatisation of berths number 11 to 14 would go on despite the opposition.

During the meeting, the union secretary-general Simon Sang said members would go on strike next week if the government insists on privatising parts of the port.

“Let the government get us loud and clear: We don’t want privatisation of the port. Period,” he said.

According to him, in 2005, some Kenya Ports Authority senior managers crafted a privatisation plan under which 4,000 junior workers were targeted for sacking.

The plan also included leasing several assets and operations of the port to private firms with KPA operating only as a landlord. He asked the privatisation commission to justify how the country and wananchi would benefit from privatising the port.

When Mr Mulewa stood to respond to the issues, the unionists shouted him down. He then asked the PC, Mr Munyi, to speak, but the union members cut his speech short after he asked them to listen to the views of the commission.

In his presentation, Mr Kitungu had dismissed the union’s fears that the government wanted to privatise the entire port.

“What the government wants is only to improve infrastructure and service delivery by involving private capital and expertise,” he said.

He has maintained that unless the port operations were reformed, Kenya Ports Authority would be left behind in adopting new trends of seaports management and service delivery.

Lead to loss of jobs

However, representatives from the Coast Youth Association, Chama Cha Uzalendo, Kenya National Muslim Advisory Council, the union and wananchi at the meeting said privatising the port would lead to the loss of 4,000 jobs. At present, the port has 7,000 employees.

In an interview with the Nation, Mr Kitungu said the government plans to convert the four conventional berths into a container terminal.

“By bringing the private sector to do that really is not the privatisation of the port. It is use of the private sector to construct the said berths,” he said.

According to him, what interested parties should be asking themselves was whether they wanted more facilities at the port or let the status quo remain.

Saying most goods world over were being transported through containers, Mr Kitungu expressed worry that the port’s conventional berths might become redundant if they did not conform to the global standards.

Asked whether opposition to the project would dampen the privatisation, Mr Kitungu said the commission would continue with its work before presenting it to the Cabinet and Parliament.

“We have heard their concerns. We will factor them in before presenting our report to the Cabinet and Parliamentary committees,” he said.