Untold costs on passengers, airlines caught up in Miguna drama

The famous handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga was expected to reverse the slide of the country’s image economically and politically.

After the two presidential elections between August and October 2017 that were bitterly disputed, and the legitimacy of the president in question, the country’s image locally and internationally was under serious scrutiny.

So much so that days before the government floated the Eurobond II, there were serious doubts if would-be investors would be as enthusiastic as they were on June 2014 when the government floated the debut Eurobond.

But even before the ink could dry on the agreement between the two, the promise of “building new bridges to a Kenyan nation” has been brought to sharp focus as a result of the events at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport that culminated in the bundling of self-styled NRM/NRA general Miguna Miguna into an airplane back to Dubai after three days of stand-off.

“This saga and its litany of arrogant characters are doing untold damage to our institutions,” former constitutional adviser to President Kenyatta Abdikadir Mohamed remarked on March 29 after Mr Miguna had been put on the plane to Dubai.

PASSENGERS
With the heavy deployment of regular and paramilitary police to seal off entire Terminal 2 at JKIA, the image of the airport and that of the country at large has been brought back on the spot. 

“Incidences of angry and irate passengers is worldwide but what matters is how authorities deal with it.

"The decision on who boards an aeroplane lies with the captain. You cannot force a hostile passenger into a plane.

"That is why captains have on numerous cases removed from aircrafts drunk and hostile passengers, all for the safety and comfort of the other passengers,” Captain Gad Kamau, the chairman of Wilson Airport Aircraft Operators, said.

REPORTERS ASSAULTED
Other than sealing off the terminal, the security personnel were also not shy to use brute force on journalists and lawyers alike, bringing back memories of months ago during opposition protests following the disputed presidential elections.

Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe did not respond to various attempts, including phone calls and text messages, regarding this story.

A lawyer for Dr Miguna, and the Senate Minority Leader James Orengo, says the events at JKIA were uncalled for and could easily damage Kenya’s diplomatic relations with other states.

“We are becoming a pariah state, exporting bad manners. I don’t understand why we would risk the good diplomatic ties we have had with the United Arab Emirates to satisfy an individual’s ego.

"Kenyans may be subjected to unnecessary scrutiny when travelling abroad,” Mr Orengo said.

As a result of the JKIA stand-off that ended with the deportation, again, of Dr Miguna to Dubai where he remains, pockets of demonstrations have been witnessed in parts of the country, especially Kisumu, the home county of the self-styled general.

EMIRATES
According to Capt Kamau, other than the concern over the country’s image, the stand-off had untold costs to passengers, the airport and airlines that may not be quantifiable.

“The biggest cost is inconvenience. You can be sure a number of the passengers were connecting elsewhere and with the delay, some probably missed their connecting flights and had to stay at the airport in Dubai as they waited for the next available flight to their destinations,” he said.

And added, “For those who were transiting and hold passports that cannot allow entry in Dubai unless they apply for visa in the country of origin, it means you cannot leave the airport until one gets the next available connecting flight. These are costs that cannot be quantified,” he said.

Meanwhile, the first attempt to force Dr Miguna into the Emirates plane on Monday night hours after he arrived flopped after he refused to get in.

But this meant the Emirates aircraft with which he was to fly in being delayed by more than two hours, thus eating into the flight time limitations for crew of the aircraft.

“It would not be possible for the same crew to arrive in Dubai and head elsewhere if that was the airline’s plan before they exhaust their duty time limitations. This is a cost to the airline which has to get another crew,” the captain said.

DIRECT FLIGHTS
Similarly, as the Emirates plane was occupying a gate for the extended period at JKIA, it also meant other aircrafts had to find other alternatives for passengers to board and disembark.

“Sometime, this would require use of buses to transfer passengers to and from the terminals,” he said.

The incident at JKIA also came just months to the expected start of direct flights between Nairobi and the US, after years of negotiations and investments in the improvement of the infrastructure and security at JKIA.

The inaugural flight by Kenya Airways to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City is scheduled for October 28.

“You also wonder how those behind the deportation reason. You display such barbarism at an international airport at a time you have just got the nod to have direct flights to the US,” Mr Orengo said.

Capt Kamau, however, said while the Miguna incident at JKIA had image implications for Kenya, the planned direct flights to the US will not be affected in any way.

“That, in my view is a foregone conclusion. The delay in starting direct flights to the US, in my view was largely to do with the anti-terror laws which we have tightened,” Capt Kamau says.