• Sheria said Sang, in a letter dated September 3, 2015, proposed the merger of the three to the then Transport CS Michael Kamau.
• Sang said the union’s recommendation, which he said still stands today, was made in 2015 and wanted nothing to do with any merger.
A section of Dock Workers Union members led by chairman Mohammed Sheria on Tuesday accused embattled general secretary Simon Sang of secretly pushing for the merger of three state agencies in the transport sector.
The merger agreement was signed on September 8, with Treasury CS Ukur Yatani leading the Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Pipeline Company and Kenya Railways into signing an agreement to work together under the Kenya Transport and Logistics Network (KTLN).
That day, according to Sheria, Sang had duped them into travelling to Kisumu for a CBA meeting.
“When we asked if he was aware of the planned signing ceremony, he told us there was nothing we could do,” said Sheria, who spoke outside the KPA entrance.
He said Sang, in a letter dated September 3, 2015, proposed the merger of the three to the then-Transport CS Michael Kamau. Sheria called on all port employees to oppose the merger, saying it will result in massive retrenchment.
The management, he said, will be the biggest casualty, followed by the security department.
“In the security department, there will be over 700 people who will go home. The Kenya Pipeline employs private guards, same as Kenya Railways. With the merger, the same will be adopted at KPA,” he said.
However, Sang laughed off the accusations saying Sheria is misinformed, vindictive and ignorant. He said President Uhuru’s Executive Order on August 7, which established a framework for the management, coordination and integration of the public port, railway and pipeline services under the KTLN heavily relied on the recommendation of the Presidential Task Force on Parastatal Reforms.
“The task force report was presented in October 2013. A few guys are going round peddling lies that it is the DWU that made the recommendation for the current merger,” Sang said.
He said the union’s recommendation, which he said still stands today, was made in 2015 and wanted nothing to do with any merger.
“We wanted KPA to be governed more professionally. We made a recommendation that the KPA be elevated to the National Ports Authority to be the landlord and regulator of ports, inland waters and dry ports.”
He said they also recommended that dry ports and inland ports be run by a single managing director while the ports of Lamu and Mombasa be run by independent managing directors. Sang said Sheria has lost direction and is becoming a government official and part of the implementation task force.
“If he wants to be part of this recommendation, he should resign and join the government. Because this recommendation from the government is not an honest recommendation,” the general secretary said.
He said the merger collapses three Acts of Parliament without going through the necessary legislative process.
“We, as a union, have made arrangements to file a case at the High Court in Mombasa tomorrow (Wednesday). That executive order must be quashed,” Sang said.
But Sheria said Sang has been playing both the villain and the saint by publicly opposing government deals during the day and supporting them at night.
“He is both the sorcerer and the traditional doctor during the day and at night,” he said.
He accused Sang of deliberately putting off negotiations for the 2020-23 collective bargaining agreement for the dock workers to use it as a campaign tool for his reelection bid in April next year.
Sheria said the union’s board, which he chairs, has not ratified any plan to push the negotiations forward, yet Sang has postponed the same.
But Sang said KPA, just like the government, is broke and cannot effectively engage in talks over the 2020-23 CBA at the moment. The negotiations have been pushed to October 12.
Sang said KPA illegally transferred Sh19 billion to the National Treasury five months ago, leading to its current cash crunch.