This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
September 26, 2019, marked a significant day for the Dock Workers Union as an annual general meeting aimed at removing General Secretary Simon Sang from office failed to achieve its objective.
The union's chairman, Mohammed Sheria, had been leading a camp that sought to oust Sang, but they were unable to muster enough support from employees to pass a vote of no confidence against him.
Adding to the woes of Sheria and his group was a recent High Court ruling that stopped the intended privatisation of Kenya Ports Authority's second container terminal, known as CT2. The court ruled that the privatisation process was irregular and did not follow due process of law, a decision that was welcomed by Sang and other petitioners.
The privatisation of CT2 was reportedly opposed by Sang due to concerns that it would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs for dock union members. Sang had claimed that the move to give away the multibillion-shilling CT2 to MSC and KNSL would have devastating consequences for the union members.
The court's ruling has given Sang a new lease of life, with Sheria and his officials being seen as sellouts. Sang and his supporters are now pursuing a criminal case against Sheria over allegations that workers' signatures were forged to purport attendance at the aborted union AGM at Bandari Maritime Academy.
Meanwhile, one of the brokers who had been bankrolled to convince the petitioners to drop the court case opposing the privatisation of CT2 nearly committed suicide. The broker, who had also been promised a lucrative job at the CT2, had been promised a whopping Sh100 million 'thank you' gift if the case flopped.
Other officials who have ganged up against Sang include national treasurer Joseph Makero, national vice chairman Gunda Kaneno, and gender representative Zuhura Idd. They had vowed to support the Uhuru Kenyatta government's plan to privatise the port and had accused Sang of being opposed to transparency in union accounts.
