Sammy Gachuhi, the Deputy General Manager (DGM) at Africa Star Railway Operation Company Limited (Afristar) is accused of overseeing over concentration-camp-like work conditions at the company.
The former Rift Valley Railway (RVR) concession General Manager in charge of communications is said to have transferred his bad behaviour from the failed RVR to Afristar where the racial mix of Chinese looking down on the people has made the situation worse.
After RVR collapsed thanks to shady management, the GOA University alumni past ways have not only replicated at Afristar but also metamorphosed into something lethal.
At Afristar, the managers are engaged in swindling the public. This is why Solicitor General Ogeto also wanted to address the termination of contracts between KRC and Afristar.
It is a confused situation as the loss-making entity continues to overpay foreigners at the expense of locals.
Workers describe the working conditions to be like those in a concentration camp.
“We have never seen our families for the last 11 months. A driver was fired for going to meet his wife on December 25th December 2020”, the source wrote.
Staff issues
Afristar Chinese bosses treat Kenyans like trash aided by slave driver Sammy Gachuhi. It is alleged that promotion is not done on merit.
“Here the promotion is not via merit it is handed out non-competitively to those whom the administration wants and there is nothing we can do about it”, wrote one of them.
Staff also decry the discrimination by their fellow Africans for the pleasure of the Chinese, where watchmen/guards from Deeway Security Company which is owned by the Chinese often mistreat their kind and prohibit African workers from passing through a gate which they allow only Chinese employees.
“On attempt to pass there we are told “Ngozi nyeusi hairuhusiwi hapa”.
As six staff members spend the time home after getting fired by Gachuhi. The DGM is enjoying the fruits of corruption.
It is not easy to forget the response the government gave when the first complaint reached the press in 2018.
For all their grievances, Cabinet Secretary for Transport James Macharia dismissed them as ‘a little misunderstanding’.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Ministry of Labor should look into the grievances of Afristar staff.
The debt-laden Kenyan govt must also seek ways to terminate the lopsided contract between Afristar (hiding firm for China Road and Bridge Corporation – CRBC) and Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC).
KRC pays Afristar over Sh1.5 billion monthly only to be rewarded with losses and mistreatment of fellow Kenyans.
