KQ staffer must be punished for 'whistleblowing'- CS Macharia

Transport CS James Macharia has maintained that the KQ staffer who was suspended after filming a Chinese Airline must be punished.

Macharia while appearing before the joint health committee on Wednesday said the staffer Gire Ali was not a whistleblower and committed an illegality by secretly filming a security facility.

"I want to clarify two things here. He was not a whistleblower, that is a wrong definition of that gentleman. He committed an illegality," Macharia said.

According to the CS, the China Southern airlines arrived in the morning at 7am and thus there was nothing secret about it.

"What was he whistleblowing about a Boeing that arrived in the morning? It was not arriving at night in secrete, we all could see it," he said.

"That gentleman secretly filmed a security institution, that even me as a CS cannot dare, that is an illegality and the legal system should determine what happens to him."

He said under aviation rules, such a  big plane cannot secretly land in any airport.

On Monday High Court Judge Weldon Korir stopped the DPP and DCI from arresting and prosecuting Gire over alleged criminal charges of terrorism.

The charges according to the court documents arise out of an alleged act of video recording of China Southern Airline at JKIA on February 26.

Gire, an assistant security agent at KQ, witnessed the landing of the said aircraft which was contrary to communications by KQ that the flights from china had been suspended from landing due to the outbreak of the COVID-19.

Last week, Kenya Airways suspended Gire indefinitely for sharing a video clip of 239 passengers aboard a Chinese flight that arrived in Kenya.