Return to Work, Impunity Is Not An Option, CS Murkomen Tells Striking Pilots

Kipchumba Murkomen, the cabinet secretary for transportation, has encouraged the striking Kenya Airways (KQ) pilots to report for duty.
As the strike reached its second day, Murkomen stated in a statement that the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPAviolation )’s of a court order shown that impunity is not an option.

The procedures governing industrial relations must now be activated by the Ministry of Labour due to KALPA’s defiance and complete disdain for the current court order, which is at the core of the rule of law, according to CS Murkomen on Sunday.

“I urge the pilots to return to work immediately because impunity is not an option and to be careful of the implications of disobeying a court order,”

Despite respecting workers’ rights, the government must allow for legal industrial action, according to the CS.

CS Murkomen said, “I urge them to promptly reevaluate their position and return to the negotiation table.”

The CS claims that the government’s attempts to resolve the problems over the past two days have failed.

“We had unambiguously promised Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) before this strike that we were eager to talk despite the existence of a court injunction,” CS Murkomen continued.

“The Ministry of Labor and my Ministry have been working nonstop to find a solution during the past two days. However, these attempts were in vain.”

The head of the Transport Ministry also expressed regret in the statement to the thousands of passengers who were left stranded as a result of the pilots’ strike.

All travelers and transporters impacted by the ongoing Kenya Airways pilots strike have been apologized for by the Kenyan government, Cs Murkomen stated.

According to Murkomen, the Kenyan government is prepared to address the problems that have plagued KQ for years because the carrier is one of the strategic enterprises in a crucial economic sector.
“The Government has injected more than Ksh60 billion over the previous three years to keep the company solvent,” CS Murkomen stated.

In fact, despite the country’s economic crisis and severe drought, this administration diverted Ksh10 billion from the exchequer during its first 10 days in office to support Kenya Airways.

At the same time, the head of the Transport Ministry disclosed that the government has been developing a turnaround plan based on the recapitalization and relisting of the airline on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Murkomen claims that efforts to generate money for the national carrier have been impeded by the current strike.

In order to make Kenya Airways more appealing to investors, “we, as a Government, had offered to Kenya Airways the enlisting of an outside expert to help advise on how to configure and reset the industrial relations,” continued CS Murkomen.

Unfortunately, the pilots rejected our offer and commenced a strike right away.

The CS also addressed the government’s subsidy of the airline, claiming that Kenyans “are neither satisfied nor ready to continue financing Kenya Airways.”