Police officers on Thursday, June 29, lobbed teargas at the Malindi Water and Sewerage Company employees who were protesting over the late disbursement of salaries and poor management.
Speaking to the media, the employees stated that the company called the police on them as they continued with their protests outside the establishment.
Further, they noted that one of the employees sustained injuries after being hit by a teargas canister and was swiftly rushed to hospital.
While explaining their decision to protest, the employees stated that the management had been making empty promises to review their pay and working conditions for several years but they had not seen any tangible progress.
Furthermore, they explained that while a section of employees had received a salary increment of Ksh2,000, it was channelled to their house allowance instead of being reflected on their basic salary.
“The problem is that we are not being paid well. We have spoken to the management and it has now been seven years since. The bosses have not taken any action.
“They also increased our salaries by Ksh2,000 but put it under the house allowance. Now they are calling police officers to stop our protest. Because of that, one of us has been hurt and rushed to the hospital,” an employee stated.
However, an official from the company stated that the employees were demanding the sacking of some bosses, emphasising that this was a significant decision that could not be made arbitrarily.
Additionally, he noted that the management had invited the employees for dialogue but they declined the offer, resulting in protests.
“They don't want to talk. They are demanding that the company is shut down and operations paralysed. We will have a meeting with the board to determine the cause of the problem," noted the official.
In a separate event on June 22, some 700 Kakamega County security guards expressed their frustration claiming that the government had fired them without official communication. They stated that they reported to work one day only to find out that they had been replaced.
Others noted that the government still owed them salary arrears regretting that in most cases when they were paid, they did not receive their salaries on time.
"In 2018, we were hired as security guards and assigned to training programs. The county government did not award certificates for completion of the program, but we were all assigned to different departments. We were, however, astounded to discover new replacements, "one of the employees stated.
