The threat of a strike by Kenyan civil aviation employees looms over the Christmas holidays and could bring the entire air travel system to its knees, with the two international airports of Nairobi and Mombasa paralysed, and disruption to domestic flights as well.
The ultimatum about a labour unrest that could start tomorrow afternoon comes from the general secretary of the Kenya Aviation Workers Union, the airport and flight employees' union, Moses Ndiema. According to Ndiema's statement to the national media, the intention is to go on strike to demand an increase in wages, which are considered too low after the previous strike last November.
At that time, the dispute mainly concerned Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport, which was at the centre of negotiations for the sale of its management for 30 years to the Indian transport and infrastructure giant Adani Group, which was later implicated in a maxi-corruption scandal in the United States.
In view of pressure from many quarters, President William Ruto then decided to suspend the existing agreements and close the doors to Adani.
Now, however, the issue is at national level.  ‘Next 21 December we will hold a meeting with our members and if, by bad luck, we have not reached an agreement, we will announce when the strike will officially start. This will be the mother of all strikes,' Ndiema announced.
In short, an agreement tomorrow or it will be chaos. Thousands of tourists have already booked their holidays in Kenya and will be arriving in Nairobi and Mombasa, plus Kenyan citizens and residents who will be travelling by plane during the holidays. A nationwide strike would bring not only the tourism sector to its knees, but also the government itself, which would be grappling with chaos and possible disruptions, translated into lost revenue, starting with the eTA and ending with all the fresh foreign currency that would not come in. The airlines would also have their hands full, with cancelled flights and delays. The hope, therefore, is that tomorrow the parties will meet and reach an understanding, if not a final agreement, which could postpone the issue until the new year.