KQ lifts suspension of whistle-blower Gire Ali
Suspended Kenya Airways (KQ) employee Gire Ali is set to resume duty today after the national carrier cancelled his suspension.
This was revealed in court on Thursday as the Police also confirmed to Justice Weldon Korir that he will not be prosecuted.
He had been suspended for filming a China Southern Airlines plane with 239 passengers that had landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) amid a coronavirus epidemic in the Asian country.
The High Court had stopped security authorities from arresting or prosecuting the JKIA security officer.
This comes a day after Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia told Members of Parliament that Mr Ali is a criminal who should be locked up for breach of security at the airport.
“He was not a whistle blower but a person who breached national security…JKIA is a security installation and no one is allowed to film it secretly,” he told legislators.
His response infuriated MPs who accused the CS of double standards and pleaded with him to implore the national airline to have mercy on Mr Ali, who they insisted is a national hero for exposing the arrival of the flight.
The CS refused to delve into the circumstances under which the plane was allowed to land in Kenya, instead, telling the committee that focus should be on enhancing measures towards ensuring proper controls and surveillance of the novel coronavirus.