KQ pilots' strike is illegal - CS Murkomen

Speaking at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Saturday, when he visited the facility after the strike brought operations at the airline to a standstill, Murkomen slammed the pilots for going against a court order that barred them from taking the said industrial action. 

Murkomen said, "The pilots are young people, they are either my age and below and they should be thinking about the future of their country and the future of the company and the consequences of their decision to millions of Kenyans."

The CS went on to say that management had listened to pilots concerns and was willing to negotiate.

"The government is willing to support you in this conversation, but please follow the law, follow the court order, make a decision that makes our country go forward and not backwards."

He went on, "The strike was unwarranted. The pilots are not employed by the government per say, even though the state is a shareholder of this company, they are employed by KQ. KQ has a human resource manual which gives them ways of dealing with their staff, but also the Constitution and labour laws have ways of dealing with this situation particularly when a strike is illegal, so it is up to KQ to take that decision as KQ."