KPA forms team to probe staff in certificates scam

Corporate News

Kenya Ports Authority managing director Gichiri Ndua. PHOTO | FILE 

By GITONGA MARETE, gmarete@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The Kenya Ports Authority says it has begun reviewing responses from 136 workers linked to forged papers.

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has constituted a committee that is expected to recommend disciplinary measures against workers who presented forged certificates for promotion.

Corporate Affairs head Bernard Osero said on Wednesday the committee had begun reviewing letters from more than 100 employees who had responded to an internal memo to “show cause” why they should not be disciplined.

Managing director Gichiri Ndua sanctioned the review.

An audit conducted at the port last year revealed that 136 employees forged their documents so as to get promoted or remain in employment.

“To ensure fairness and compliance with the law, the affected workers were given a chance to be heard and to remove any doubt,” said Mr Osero.

“The management carried out preliminary queries with examining bodies as well as colleges and individual officers whose certificates were found questionable were asked to account.”

The six-member team was drawn from human resource, legal, operations, internal audit, employee relations and finance departments.

However, the Dock Workers Union, which represents KPA and Kenya Ferry Services employees, said they expected the exercise to be fair.

Secretary-general Simon Sang said the union did not expect the State agency to take the drastic action of sacking the culprits, stressing that “there is a different way of solving the problem”.

“These are people who were desperate to retain their jobs and in any case it was the responsibility of the employer to ensure all the documents were authenticated while they were on the mandatory three-month probation. We don’t think they will be sacked,” Mr Sang told the Business Daily.

Asked whether the management would dismiss the affected workers, Mr Osero said: “Appropriate action will be taken upon conclusion of the review of the individual responses as each case is being dealt with on its own merit.”

With nearly 7,000 workers, recruitment at the largest port in East Africa was frozen in 2010 but employment in key departments such as security and health has been going on when a need arises.

Mr Sang said they were negotiating with the authority to reach an agreement on how to deal with the issue, adding that they had explored the possibility of demotions.

“Amnesty happens in many organisations and KPA will not be the first. If youths who have been fighting us together with the Al-Shabaab militia can be pardoned and rehabilitated to be assimilated back into the community, then I don’t see why hard working employees should be subjected to such punishment,” he said.

The union boss said the 136 workers had secured loans worth Sh54 million with their saccos and sending them packing them would be “inhuman”.