Portland standoff leaves company machines silent, a while longer

By Ally Jamah and Judy Ogutu

A standoff between the East African Portland Cement management and workers persisted, shutting down operations for another day.

And it also emerged that acting Industrialisation Minister Amason Kingi will be moving to the Court of Appeal to challenge the reinstatement of suspended company directors.

On Monday, the factory’s machinery remained eerily silent after hundreds of employees were locked out by riot police for fear of violence after they threatened to block the company’s top management from resuming duty.

But Managing Director Kephar Tande and Board Chairman Mark ole Karbolo vowed that they would not give up their claims to their seats.

Tande and Karbolo had planned to return to the company’s offices in Athi River for the second time on Monday after a court overturned their suspension by Kingi.

But they didn’t show up at the EAPCC’s headquarters where angry employees were camped with police not allowing any vehicle or person to approach the gates.

Meddling politicians

"This standoff is very unfortunate for the company. Mixing politics and business just doesn’t work. Politicians should stop meddling with the operations of our company," said Tande.

No one appears ready to back down as the fortunes of one of the country’s largest cement manufacturers continue to dip, with daily losses estimated at Sh50 million.

"We are ready to stay away from work as long as it takes, but we will not work with the MD and board chairman," vowed Mr Elijah Wakise of the Kenya Chemical and Allied Workers Union.

But it also emerged that officials have begun talks with some of the workers to unlock the deadlock.

"The workers have been incited by some politicians. Otherwise we have been having a good working relationship for a long time," said Karbolo.

The chairman now wants an extraordinary Annual General Meeting to be called to resolve the matter decisively, saying the market appeal of the company was diminishing fast at the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

Tande revealed that he had not been in touch with Kingi or other top Government officials to resolve the impasse.

The two officials insisted that they were not defying the authority of the minister, claiming instead that they were only defending their rights.

Deaf ears

"The ministry sought to suspend us on alleged malpractices, which have not been disclosed to us. Our attempts to have the matter sorted out by an independent investigation have fallen on deaf ears. We had to resort to the courts," said Tande.

In the meantime, Kingi and his Permanent Secretary Karanja Kibicho on Friday filed a notice on their intention to challenge the judge’s decision to reinstate the officials.

Milimani Commercial Court Judge Joseph Mutava on Thursday dismissed the minister’s application that sought to stay the suspension of Tande and Karbolo.

He said the minister went overboard in making the decision as the Government only has 25 per cent shareholding.

"Not even the addition of NSSF shares grant the Government a controlling quality in the company," the judge said in his ruling.

And on Monday, Justice Cecilia Githua directed the company to sort out the issue of representation in the case.