Corrupt Kenya Railways MD Philip Mainga
Technicians contracted by the Kenya Railways Corporation have protested oppression and intimidation by corrupt Managing Director (MD) David Mainga.
Writing to this blog on Saturday, December 24, 2022, disgruntled employees complained of constant bullying and harassment at their place of work, which is pushing them to the brink of depression.
The source who requested anonymity divulged that for the last year, the Kenya Railways management has denied them annual leave in contravention of the law.
According to section 28 of the Kenyan Employment Act, clause 7.8. 9, every employee is entitled to 21 annual leave days after one year of service to the company, with full pay.
This is calculated as 1.75 working days per month.
The technicians suspect that this illegal move has been largely influenced by Mr Mainga, who is currently living under the fear of being thrown out of the corporation following the arrival of newly appointed Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Roads, Transport, and public works, Kipchumba Murkomen.
He is using his last days to bully employees into submission.
For the longest time, stakeholders and concerned members of the public highly looked forward to the departure of James Macharia, who held the docket captive for the past ten years.
During Macharia’s tenure, Kenya Railways was eroded into a hub of corruption which was perpetuated through multiple dubious projects, such as the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the improvement of cargo handling in Mombasa and Naivasha.
Representatives from the Kenyan and Chinese governments worked in cahoots to pilfer taxpayers’ funds through exorbitant costs on fictitious projects.
For instance, Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) exposed itself to huge losses when it entered a skewed contract on the management of passenger operations for the SGR line.
The Managing Director Philip Mainga executed a flawed deal with Africa Star Railways (Afristar), the Chinese operator for the SGR line, which ran largely unchecked where Kenya Railways lost up to Sh.1.4m daily.
The contract was signed during Athanas Maina’s tenure and was initiated by Philip Mainga himself.
For the last few months, Kenya Railways managers have been engaged in constant fights as questions continue to rise on whether Kenya will be able to repay the Chinese loans, which have now topped a whopping $4.7 billion after the expansion of the SGR line.
According to insiders, Mr. Mainga was the mastermind of the dubious projects which were approved and overseen by ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta’s close confidant James Macharia.
Athanas Maina and Philip Mainga are fingered as the main architects of the rot at Kenya Railways and were rumoured to be adherent supporters of the previous regime.
This earned them protection from prosecution.
In fact, in the buildup to the August 2022 elections, Mr Mainga was often quoted dismissing the then Deputy President William Ruto as a “land grabber” and “lord of graft” who “should not get anywhere near power”.
At the time, he was openly campaigning for the Azimio La Umoja coalition led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Narc Kenya patriarch Martha Karua and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.
Mr Maingi felt inclined to support the outfit based on his long-running and close association with Kalonzo, who is a fellow native of the Ukambani region.
He hoped that with Kalonzo’s rise to power, he would gain access to new opportunities to loot and accumulate his ill-gotten wealth.
Unfortunately for him, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, who is a close ally of President William Ruto, has since taken over the docket and is expected to oversee major administrative changes to ensure that intended developments are achieved across the country.
As a result, Mr Mainga has taken a swift U-turn and is now trying his best to warm himself up to the new administration.
In a recent meeting with stakeholders, he showered President Ruto with praise, hoping it will help wash away his past blunders at the corporation.
But according to pundits, this will hardly do the trick, because in his manifesto, Ruto pledged to oversee the upgrading and maintenance of Kenya’s transport systems, and this cannot be done with crooks like Mr Mainga still occupying office.
His days at Kenya Railways are numbered.
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