Officers from the Kilifi County Government on Tuesday raided a gas manufacturing factory in the Shauri Moyo area and arrested 50 foreigners of Indian descent.
According to reports, the 50 foreigners are claimed to be in the country without the necessary documentation, which led to their arrest.
The county officials further ordered the immediate closure of the gas plant to pave way for investigations.
This is after a group of local workers at the plant come out to vent their frustrations over what they termed as discrimination and underpayment by the company's management.
While expressing their frustrations, a section of the employees also alleged pay disparity amongst different sections of workers which led to them to the disgruntlement.
The crackdown was led by Kilifi County Minister of Lands Jane Kamto who stressed the need to do risk assessments to avoid a disaster.
“We are looking at the security of the people living near this place, we know in Kenya recently, there have been an outburst of gas facilities so we are also curbing to make sure there is safety,” stated the County Lands Minister.
The county government officials urged the employees to halt accessing the premises until the investigations are concluded.
The move came a month after a chemicals mining company was shut down by the Kajiado County Government over allegations of accruing land rates amounting to over Ksh 10 billion.
County officers drawn from the Inspectorate and Revenue department raided the firm, closed its gate before blocking a railway line that leads to the plant.
The County Government in a statement disclosed the mining company failed to pay the fees in a period spanning the last five years.
“The row over the arrears has been simmering since 2018 and efforts to get the arrears paid over the years have severally hit a snag including a failed arbitration process directed by the Kajiado High Court in 2021,” stated the county government.
