Employees at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, both those working on behalf of the Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) and Kenya Airways ground staff, have announced a strike starting next Monday, through their umbrella union, KAWU (Kenya Airport Workers Union). This could cause numerous inconveniences and delays at the international airport, not only for passengers heading to Nairobi, but also for those heading from the capital to the coast, on safari and other locations in the country, as well as those using JKIA as a transit hub to travel to other African countries.
The workers have issued an ultimatum to the government, which, according to them, has not heeded their pleas for talks before entering into the much-ballyhooed agreement to hand over the management of the airport to the Indian company Adani Airport Holding for the next 30 years.
The agreement would in fact grant Adani the power to manage a large portion of KAA's staff, potentially leading to redundancies and the employment of foreign workers.
‘We will reconsider our intention to take industrial action... only if the Adani Airport Holdings Limited agreement is abandoned in its entirety,’ said KAWU general secretary Moss Ndiema, in the strike statement that appeared on the union's X profile.
The agreement could significantly reduce the government's role in key airport operations, including communication, navigation and surveillance systems for air traffic management, security services, mandatory health services, customs, quarantine and immigration services. In return, Adani will enjoy unlimited access to land of any size, tax exemptions, and the authority to establish and collect taxes on the airport.
In addition, the agreement obliges the government to borrow funds instead of Adani, which will finance the project through debt. ‘Adani will have the sole and exclusive right to determine, bill, collect, retain and appropriate user fees for all dollar services,’ reads the draft agreement, as leaked by national media.
The question of whether Adani would interfere in the expansion of other international airports is still unclear. Matters that would closely affect the now legendary development possibility of the Malindi airport, as well as other recently completed airports, such as Isiolo and Eldoret, in addition to the expansion of the one in Mombasa.