Kenya Railways managers fail to appear before House committee over SGR racism claims

Kenya Railways Managing Director Athanus Maina

NAIROBI, KENYA: The management of Kenya Railways failed to appear before the National Assembly’s committee probing allegations of racial discrimination against Kenyans working for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR)

Kenya Railways Managing Director Athanus Maina said they could not appear before the National Integration and Equal Opportunities committee to give details on allegations that Chinese staff at the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), who run the SGR, were discriminating locals working at the railway line.

Maina requested the committee chairman, nominated MP Maina Kamanda, to grant them an extra one week so that they can complete their investigations and be in a position to respond to the questions raised by the committee.

“We have also sought documents requested from the operator (CRBC) and will avail them at the meeting. We request you to reschedule the meeting to enable us conclude the investigations,” said Maina who further told the committee that they were keen on ensuring that they bring a comprehensive report on the matter.

The position by the Managing Director however contradicts the position advanced by the Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia who on Tuesday told the committee that the body had completed their investigations and was only awaiting reports of a similar probe that was separately being undertaken by the Ministry of Labour.

Macharia told the Transport Committee that is also looking into the operations of SGR that Kenya Railways probe on the discrimination allegations was ready but said they could not divulge its details until they compare it with that of the Labour Ministry.

Kamanda said though they had granted the Kenya Railways management their request, they will be expecting them to appear before them with all the answers regarding the matter.

“Issues of racial discrimination at work place, and more especially at a public facility like the SGR are very serious and we will be expecting that Kenya Railways will have dug deep into this matter and furnish us with all the answers regarding these allegations when they appear,” said Kamanda.

Kamanda also defended his committee against allegations of duplicating what their Transport counterparts were doing, arguing that their mandate would only be restricted to the allegations of discrimination of workers.

“It is this committee that has the singular mandate of looking into allegations of discrimination of any kind in a work place. That is the only area that will be of concern to us, and we will interrogate all the issues and ensure we establish the truth regarding these allegations,” said Kamanda.