Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has moved to resolve the stand-off after the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) shutdown.
According to the Transport CS, the problem that caused the shutdown has been solved and operations are set to resume in the next one hour.
Anti-Riot police were dispatched to disperse striking aviation workers as Kenya Air-Force personnel were deployed to assist with the screening of passengers at JKIA.
The CS insisted that the chaos caused at the airport was because of few individuals who wanted to sabotage the airport’s operations.
“I am pleased to announce that the issues that we had at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport that resulted in the disruption of operations this morning have been resolved and we expect that the first flight to take off in the next hour or so. The disruption was caused by about 30 KAA workers who engaged in illegal activities within JKIA’s compound aimed at sabotaging the airport’s operations,” tweeted the CS.
He also applauded the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and Kenya Airways officials for working to ensure operations were back to normal.
“I would like to commend the management teams of the Kenya Airports Authority and KQ, the relevant security agencies, for taking quick decisive action to ensure that normal operations resume as soon as possible. The overwhelming majority of KAA workers are still at work and I thank them for their continued support in helping us to minimize the disruption caused by a few rogue elements,” said CS James Macharia.
Stranded
His statement comes hours after passengers were on Wednesday morning stranded at JKIA as Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) workers kicked off what seemed to be a planned strike.
Reports said that the workers were opposed to the ongoing KAA-KQ merger negotiations.
Passengers reported that flights had not left the airport since 3 a.m. and the workers appeared to be on a go-slow.