Fresh concerns have emerged around operations linked to Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO), a foreign infrastructure contractor with projects across Africa and Asia, whose local presence continues to draw attention over labour-related complaints from some project sites, where employees often describe recurring disputes tied to delayed remuneration, extended salary arrears, and internal decision-making structures that leave limited room for grievance resolution.
In the latest case, workers at a project site in Kitale, Trans-Nzoia County, say a large portion of the workforce has been placed on compulsory leave, a move management attributes to fuel shortages affecting operations on site, although employees maintain that the explanation does not reflect the full circumstances on the ground, insisting instead that the decision aligns with an extended standoff over salary arrears which they say have accumulated over an extended period of time and remain unsettled despite what they describe as repeated internal assurances and prior directives for payment.
The workers say that the project, which forms part of ongoing road infrastructure works along the Kitale–Morpus Road corridor, has for some time been characterised by tensions over delayed remuneration and employment stability, with staff alleging that the current developments effectively amount to an attempt to ease out a large portion of the workforce who have been persistently demanding clearance of outstanding wages.
Employees further contend that the decision reflects an internal management structure in which key operational, employment, and payroll determinations are centralised under senior leadership, which they identify as being under the direction of a Chinese national, a situation they say has left limited space for internal negotiation or effective grievance handling, particularly at a time when they are simultaneously seeking clarity on both job continuity and long-overdue compensation.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, some of the affected workers further claim that there are links of coordination between the company and certain officials within the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), which they believe has contributed to a lack of intervention despite repeated complaints being raised through various channels.
“Hello Cyprian. CICO Company in Kitale Murpus Road has sent 90% of its workers on compulsory leave, citing that there is no fuel in the company, but the truth of the matter is to expel most of the workers because they are requesting their hourly salary that has accumulated for 2 years. The company has been instructed to pay the workers but they have refused. The Chinese lady, Madam Spring Gao, is the one who decides everything in the company, e.g. salary and employment of workers. Kindly Cyprian help us with this to reach the authority, but KENHA has declined our cries despite informing them because they are also the culprit.”
