JKIA staff sacked for making Matiang’i queue sues for Sh2.4m
A female security guard has sued the Kenya Airports Authority for sacking her on claims of mistreating Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
According to documents filed at the Nyeri labour court, Daizy Cherogony claims her employment was terminated on May 11 for making the minister queue for a security check like other passengers.
She was issued with a dismissal letter signed by Managing Director Jonny Andersen on the grounds of misconduct.
Dr Matiang’i was flying to Kisumu on the evening of April 5, 2017 and was accompanied by his security detail.
VIP ESCORTS
Ms Cherogony, who had worked at the JKIA since 2006, recounted that there were complaints that VIP escorts were accessing the landing field without airport passes.
She said that on the fateful day, there were long queues at the terminal and as the security supervisor, she went to the glass door to assist with checking documents.
She contacted the screening coordinator for more manpower as the passengers were bitterly complaining that other passengers were bypassing them on the queues claiming that they were late.
Ms Cherogony added that the passengers had formed three queues and it was raining.
LONG QUEUES
“Due to long queues and complaints from passengers, I went to open the second screening glass door. It was at that point that I saw the Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i,” she says in the documents.
“He was along with a police inspector and other people escorting him who were shouting and trying to force their way without going through the passenger queues.”
She said when she approached the minister to calm him down, he informed her that he had already called Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia over the matter.
SPECIAL TREATMENT
Dr Matiang’i, she said, did not want to follow the queues and wanted special treatment despite the fact that it was raining and other passengers were complaining.
She indicates that according to the security manual, Cabinet secretaries usually queue like normal passengers unless they have special passes which require them to put in place special arrangements before they arrive at the airport.
“Matiang’i never had any special passes as well as the people he had around him,” she says
“So I could not allow him in the airport without clearing at the screening check point.”
She says KAA management accused her a wrongdoing which never existed since she was doing her job a security supervisor.
SH2.4 MILLION
Ms Cherogony is seeking compensation of Sh2.4 million for wrongful dismissal, stating that she was not even given a hearing prior to the dismissal.
She adds that she was never shown any complaint written by the Education CS and argues the dismissal was victimisation and discrimination by the employer.
She claims her efforts to have the matter solved amicably out of court were fruitless.
She urges court to declare the dismissal unlawful and order for her reinstatement to her position.
The case is scheduled to be mentioned on July 27, 2017.