THE COMBINED TEAM OF KACC AND NSIS WHICH ARE CURRENTLY INVESTIGATING THE MESSES AND CORRUPTION AT NYAYO OFFICES SHOULD EXTEND THEIR WORK TO UP-COUNTRY.

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

The on-going investigations at the Nyayo headquarters of the Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons should be extended to Western Kenya to verify claims that a medium white sugar producing plant has engaged over 30 immigrant workers from India.

These workers, according to documents smuggled out of the facility by the frustrated Kenyan workers are engaged on petty and odd jobs which does not require the services of skilled workers worth sourcing from a foreign country, but which could be done by the local artisans.

The foreign workers are engaged on odd jobs such as welders, office time keeper, store men, store-keepers, cane yard clerks, boiler operators, boiler supervisors, weighbridge clerks and weighbridge supervisors, security, sales executives, hostel cook, account clerks, electrician, mechanics etc.

Surely, are we Kenyans really short of local skills in these fields to warrant the importation or sourcing of the same from foreign countries?.

Is it true that close to five decades ever since our country gained its political independence from our former colonial rulers and masters Great Britain in 1963, Kenya is still short of this category of workers to warrant their sourcing from India?

Why is Hon Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ sleeping on his job? It is even more shameful that some of the so-called skilled foreign workers are reported to be retiree and pensioners in their in country. More shame is the different and big gap between the salaries earned by these foreign workers in comparison to the salary scales of the local employee of the same firm.

According to the docents smuggled out of the facility by the seemingly frustrated local employees of the firm, the salary scales of these immigrant workers, are ranging from Kshs 40,000 to Kshs 105 per month. The foreign workers get their salaries neatly and are not subjected to the statutory and mandatory deductions such as NSSF and NHIF.

It is shamelessly discriminatory, because the highest paid local worker in this firm earns Kshs 45,000 per month and he is a boiler engineer. The rest of African staff are paid between Kshs 7,500 to Kshs 17,000 per month.

According to the company workforce roster made available to us, the firm has workforce of 344 employees including chairman, managing director, staff and the ordinary workers whose contribution to the NSSF is estimated to be around Kshs 137,600 per month. The immigrant workers are said to be exempted from these mandatory deductions.

I personally believes that after close to 50 years of independence, Kenya has trained sufficient number of manpower in excess of its industrial needs, therefore there is no point for the government of Kenya to allow the scarce jobs that are available for its citizens to be saturated by foreign workers.

Moreover, the Kisumu based Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Ltd is medium sized plant that produces only 1500 tones of made sugar per day. And comparing it with the Mumias Sugar Company, which is arguably the largest and the most efficiently managed plant in this country that is producing close to 7000 tones of made sugar per day, and which is managed and manned by local Kenyan workers.

Other factories such as Sonysugar, Chemelil Sugar Company, Nzoia Sugar Company and Muhoroni Sugar Mills Company are producing slightly over 2000 and 2500 tones of made sugar per day, but all are manned by local skills. What is so special in the case of Kibos to warrant its importation of such a large number of foreign workers into this country?

What criteria is the Immigration Ministry using in determining what category of worker should be issued with the work permit to engage on employment in this country? Can the Minister Hon Otieno Kajwang’ explain this to us?.

We are informed that each time the immigration officials tried to intervene on this kind of scams, there are some elements of intervention from unnamed top government officials and politicians from the region. Are these people really genuinely working for their down trodden and distraught Kenyan workers who are openly being unfairly discriminated in their motherland?

At one time, we are told the junior immigration officials in the company of the police had stormed the facility and arrested quite a number of these alien workers, but they were promptly released within hours after such cases of intervention from above. Such things happens in our mid despite of the popular song coined by politicians that we are fighting the war against the scourge of poverty in other words “Poverty Eradication” Can we succeed in our endeavor whole such discriminatory policy is still being practiced in the country with impunity?

Let the government move with the into the Kibos facility with the snake speed and sort out the shameful messes there. KACC and NSIS as matter of utmost urgency should storm this facility as soon as possible and have the workers allegations investigated to its logical conclusion and perhaps have those foreigners workers kicked out.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com