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{
    "id": 881484,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/881484/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 360,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mumias East, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Benjamin Washiali",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 151,
        "legal_name": "Benjamin Jomo Washiali",
        "slug": "benjamin-washiali"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Pursuant to Standing Order No.33(1), I seek leave for the adjournment of this House for purposes of discussing the ongoing strike by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) workers. This morning, the city woke up to a paralysis of operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) arising from, the industrial action by the Kenya Aviation Workers’ Union (KAWU). The Union is protesting against plans for the take-over of KAA operations by Kenya Airways. The strike will have a serious economic impact on Kenya. It will affect tourism and businesses, including delaying hundreds of passengers trying to enter or leave the country, given that JKIA is a major regional hub. There is need to deliberate on how this matter can be resolved as soon as possible. It is for this reason that I seek leave for the adjournment of the House, in order to deliberate on the ongoing strike and chart a way forward. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to thank you and the Speaker, for giving this Motion adequate time of one-and-a-half hours. I hope within this time, most of my colleagues will have added their voice to it. Someone somewhere may be wondering why the Majority Party Whip is raising such a Motion and yet, I am in the same Government that is supposed to be in- charge of the airports. I want to notify such a person that we have an overall role as Parliament to oversee what happens in this country and to oversee the Executive. Therefore, I am raising this in my capacity as a Member of Parliament (MP) and a leader of this House. When the industrial action took place and I got the information first thing in the morning, I imagined myself…. Many times, you have given us an opportunity to travel and we have passed through airports like Amsterdam or Dubai on transit to many other countries. I was just wondering: Supposing I was the one in an airport like Amsterdam and the staff equivalent to KAA there have gone on strike, what would be happening? I would be in the middle of nowhere. I also imagined that some of passengers at the airport are patients. What would be happening, if you are a patient and you are on transit to see a doctor in India, United Kingdom, Tanzania or another place? You get to the airport and find out you cannot get to the airline that will take you to see that specialist. Businessmen have been affected. You know some businesses have timelines. We have tenders that have to be delivered to a specific place within a particular time. You are carrying those documents and yet, you are unable to deliver because the airport cannot allow you. For students travelling the first time, for example, if there was a student going to Shanghai in China, and had a connecting flight in Dubai or any other place, what would he or she do? I even imagined that I was a hotelier whose tourists are expected to come to my hotel for their tourist excursions, what would be happening because this is a very serious loss? In summary, JKIA is not like any other facility we have in this country. I hope Members are listening to me. It is the gateway of this country to the international community. I am sure most of the passengers at the airport even though it is in this country are foreigners. They are either on their way back to their country, are coming back or transiting within this country. Therefore, I have done a bit of research. The revenue loss we are talking about as at now is beyond Kshs500 million. This is arising from the numerous airlines that were meant to take passengers to various destinations, but cannot now. So the trip has to be cancelled. I know my The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}