Aukot: Kiraithe must apologise to Kenyans or be sacked

Investigations by the Sunday Standard showed that after the flagging off of the trains Chinese drivers took back control of the locomotives. [Courtesy]

Thirdway Alliance Party has asked the Government Spokesman Eric Kiraithe to apologise to Kenyans       or face sacking over his response to alleged mistreatment of SGR workers.

In a statement, the party leader Ekuru Aukot termed Kiraithe’s statement as ‘ridiculous and careless’.

“Our party is appalled and utterly disgusted by the statement issued by Mr. Erick Kiraithe for clearly supporting the mistreatment of Kenyans by illegal and criminals immigrants from China masquerading as experts on the SGR project,” he said.

The leader added that Kiraithe’s remarks normalized the killing and torture experienced by Kenyans in foreign countries like Saudi Arabia, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

“What is more insulting is that Kenyans are being humiliated and toured by foreign nationals on our own soil and in the capital city of Kenya,” Ekuro said.

He also asked the government to make sure the accused Chinese crew found guilty of mistreating Kenyans to face the full force of the law.

“The government should state in black and white to the Chinese that mistreatment of Kenyans at the SGR project sites is not welcome and it’s illegal,” he added.

Abetting crime

The company could not confirm or deny allegations by some stuff that these workers were being punished for refusing to do menial jobs they were not hired to do. [Courtesy]

Aukot accused the government of supporting the criminal acts perpetrated to Kenyans by the Chinese in the SGR sites.

The party further cursed the rule given by Kiraithe on Wednesday that any Kenyan SGR crew found leaking information about their mistreatment would be sacked.

He also demanded for the sacking of all Chinese engineers in the SGR project claiming that Kenya has enough engenders to run the SGR locomotives.

Dr Aukot and the party leadership will be going for a fact finding mission at the SGR station in Syokimau tomorrow at 10am.

On Wednesday, the government spokesman Eric Kiraithe asked the Kenyans to respect and appreciate what China Road and Bridge Corporation (CR&BC) has achieved in the operations of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

Kiraithe claimed Kenyan staff pictured as being mistreated were going through orientation so as to gain military standard discipline to run the project.

In his statement Kiraithe said the modern train infrastructure system required individuals with the right mindset, moral principles and workplace values justifying why some of the Kenyan crew––employed to be  track maintenance technicians with at least a diploma in civil engineering ––  were being punished after they refused to collect garbage in the SGR sites.