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Homa Bay was a stinking town for the better part of Tuesday after casual labourers dumped solid waste on streets as they protested delayed salaries.
The workers are demanding more than five months pay.
The employees under Governor Cyprian Awiti’s administration expressed their anger by littering the entrance to the office of the governor and adjacent offices.
They also dumped waste at the entrance of the department of water and environment, which they are directly linked to.
Staff reporting for duty after the weekend were surprised when they found the entrance to their offices littered with waste.
The littered streets also hampered movement along the roads as the garbage produced foul smell and had items that could easily cause injuries or puncture a car tyre.
At Awiti’s office where more waste was dumped, the casual labourers left garbage from the junction between the county headquarters and the National Environment Management Authority office.
The aggrieved workers did this before the offices were opened so that no one could stop them.
By the time police were called, they had completed their mission of messing up the streets, which officials of the county government use when driving to work.
Some angry workers confronted police officers who wanted them to stop spreading more waste on the road.
Police had to lob teargas to disperse the defiant workers.
Thomas Auko a cleaner said they have lost trust in Awiti administration, which ends in less than a month.
“If this is what the county government can understand and pay our dues, so be it. The police will not scare us because we have a right to our pay,” he said.
The workers questioned why their salaries have not been paid yet other counties can sustain prompt payment of workers.
They said they heard reports that the National Treasury had released funds to clear pending bills.
“We demand an explanation because time is running out and the national government should look at perennial salary delays in this county,” Auko said.
Other workers said life has become unbearable for them as the cost of living rises.
Helen Adhiambo said their children are being sent home over fee arrears.
However, Environment chief officer Moses Buriri said they will address the problem. “We appeal for calm because we’ll pay them.”
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
