Kenyans working at the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) have had to endure racism, poor salaries and job insecurity at the hands of the Chinese masters.
In an investigative report, The Sunday Standard reports that Kenyan staffers working at the newly-built multi-billion infrastructure are discriminated against from the smallest aspects of basic facilities to pay, with the Chinese citizens taking the best of all.
For instance, Kenyans are prohibited from using tables exclusively set aside for the Chinese as the staff cafeteria. They are also not allowed to ride in the same staff vans as well even if only one Chinese is on board, Kenyans can’t use them when time for drop-offs come.
As if that is not enough, the Kenyan experts hired to get training from the Chinese with the aim of taking over the operation of the railway have been reduced to menial workers and assistants even as additional Chinese workforce is imported to run the line.
The Sunday Standard says there are 40 trained Kenyan locomotive drivers, but the closest they have gotten is sitting in the driver’s cabin. The Kenyan drivers are now outnumbered by Chinese nationals, who now stand at 50.
Kenyan maintenance technicians, who were hired with at least a diploma in civil engineering, have been assigned menial jobs after Chinese contractors took up theirs.
To make it hard for Kenyans to learn, the Chinese have also keep most of their equipment programmed in Chinese, making it impossible for Kenyans to progress beyond menial jobs, despite being recruited as technicians, engineers and drivers.
Majority of Kenyan workers at the railway pocket around Ksh40,000 a month, which is less than a quarter of what their Chinese counterparts take home for the same job.
“We are still referred to as trainees despite more than one year working in the field. The Chinese whom we work with in the same capacity only need two weeks of the same training and they are graduated to expert level,” said a source who spoke to the Paper.
To add salt on the wound, whenever a Kenyan is fired for failing to meet standards, they are replaced by Chinese workers waiting on the sidelines. To cover up the salary anormally, some workers are issued with two P9 forms to file tax returns.
“This lady received two P9s with different figures, one showed she earns more than what she actually takes home. Some employees who work at the Mombasa terminus have not been given payslips for the last one year. We only saw this anomaly after asking for the payslips,” says another source.
Apart from mistreating its employees, the trains has also adversely affected the Kenyan wildlife, so far killing two lions and five buffaloes at the Tsavo National Park.
Mating’i can tell us why…
Mating’i can tell us why this is happening and why in our OWN country. What is CS for transport or whatever doing about it? This is self-slavery mentality which we have to fight against. Kenya is paying high price for this over inflated project and now we have foreigners treating us as slaves in our own country. SERIOUSLY. They need to take hiyo SGR yao wapeleke Shanghai na ngunia hatutaki ushenzi.
People who Hired China asked…
People who Hired China asked for this Crap. And the Crap keeps Growing by Everyday.
Chinese are USERS, sly and…
Chinese are USERS, sly and very racial…they are hateful to africans. GoK must protect our people…our jobs. These Kenyan employees should chase those Chinese away, if GoK can’t. Wafukuzwe hata kule wanaishi… chase the damn Chinese away…NOT IN OUR OWN COUNTRY!
I call it Tribalism.
I call it Tribalism.
Well said mugikuyu.who is…
Well said mugikuyu.who is the voice of these workers?.
can interpol include name of…
can interpol include name of ugandan by name smart protus for conning africans with fake pyramid scheme called D9……..
There is evidence…
Hi name shud be flagged too…
Haiya….kenyans complain…
Haiya….kenyans complain too much of petty issues like this sgr.
If kenyansxate very efficient /proffessinal why did gavanent import doctors from Cuba……..those who do not read news or visited knh etc about kenyans dying in hands of kenyans lax, ruthless, arrogant ,unproffesional doctors/nurse etc can attest to bad situation…
Look garbage all over and endless trafiic jam ….if chinese can do it let them come.
Look clueless or low iq gavanas with road side declaration about free use of public tolets…pay as one use toilet that is working well.
Look kq was run down by kenyans….now wazungus are reviving it…..
We are to blame plz and made kenya shithole nation…wacheni ndomo fanya kazi kama hamuwezi tafuta kazi nyingine…
Well said we are to blame
Well said we are to blame
Mheshimiwa Mugikuyu:
Umesema…
Mheshimiwa Mugikuyu:
Umesema kweli!
Mheshimiwa Hayati Jaramogi…
Mheshimiwa Hayati Jaramogi Oginga Odinga aliandika kitabu mwaka wa 1966 kinachoitwa, “Not Yet Uhuru.”
Tutakapoacha ufisadi na hongo na kuanza kutengeneza bidhaa zetu na kuziuza nje, tutaheshimiwa na dunia nzima.
This is a joke right? Sounds…
This is a joke right? Sounds like April fools to me and if this is actually happening, then the Banana republic project has failed miserably. How can we volunteer for such a disgrace and embarrassment in our own home. If this train was a gift, they should take it back to Chains rather than destroying our people’s dignity and self confidence. No wonder the whole world looks down on Africans as retards-may be we are!
What is this? John come…
What is this? John come lately colonial masters? Where is our country headed to? Do we have leaders or puppets? What are we getting from these Chinese masters? This is not development but colonization that should be stopped immediately. No more importation of Chinese people. If that’s how they are treating Kenyans, they need to pick up their railway and all that they have done and go plant it in China. We do not need fake development without respect. We cannot have a government that has no standards of how it’s citizenry should be treated. It is time for Kenyans to demand respect or find a way of stalling and abandoning that railway. Kenya does not need it and if we do, we have our own Engineers. This railway is to be paid by Kenya taxpayers. Kenyans need to demand the original contract on that railway to see the violation’s and stop it. This is an insult to all our citizens and will lead to fighting new colonization. Who in our government is responsible for this because they should be fired or in court stopping that railway.
Who is to blame in all this?…
Who is to blame in all this? Who has hired the chinese?And if their time is up why are they still running the SGR? Africans we respect other nationalities when they land in our soil but we ourselve, nobody will respect us in their land.Think about it. The Hindus are doing the same, live in posh Estates and run their businesses, vacation in UK, school their kids in international schools but us?How long will it take us wake up?
Who is talking about…
Who is talking about matiangi? Three year old can scare mariangi, he is only tough Infront of cameras . Put cameras down and you see Matiangi get tail between legs and run to hid..ABOUT UBAGUZI. these ones can be discriminated by a chicken. Chicken take s***t on your bed …Stop yapping; chicken did this , did that and that and doing that
..Stand up for yourself..Tell chicken you S***t on my bed again I will shit on yours and call ours to come take more s***t on your bed..We also not let you have babies because we know how Nasty you are when it comes to fighting for your babies..Do you understand we mean business? If chicken decide to lay eggs and have babies, tell them we know eagles will come when you go to eat.If they continue tell Chicken we know also a rat called mongoose who walk at nite.We know your blind at nite and we are very aware of you.If continue tell Chicken also we know demons which attack blood and chicken is gone in few hours . No more yapping they hate us. Stand for yourself otherwise you will receive pool blindness until your choldren and mothers will sleep on bush.D DUMMIES everyday are discriminated and take it as if birthright. DUMMIES THINk ANYBODY CARES!!
I think gone Michuki could…
I think gone Michuki could be trusted to.fix it all..He did not give a damn about any bushiting
Moses in Egypt took ACTIONS…
Moses in Egypt took ACTIONS.,Daniel,Judy,Anna, Joseph, Gideon,King of all Kings by name Yeshua …and many more..STAND FOR YOURSELF AND WHOEVER HURT HURT BACK..PETER DESTROYED ANNIAH AND SAFFIRAH,.
To all those who are…
To all those who are complaining about the Chinese, one question: How can you have respect for people who hate themselves, steal from their poorest (all the graft scandals), kill their best & brightest (we just marked 49 years since they killed Kenya’s son Tom Mboya…they’ve killed others JM Kariuki, Bishop Muge, Robert Ouko etc), a country that’s in dalliance with incompetence & inefficiency at every level, a country whose people have decided to abandon their cultural values in toto, replacing them with rotten western ones (Asians have largely kept their culture), a people who perpetually exhibit all the indicators of a low IQ profile, including being tribalistic….I wouldn’t have any respect for such. The African has a huge mountain to climb before he can be respected by the world. We are simply STUPID!
Mheshimiwa @Mlachake:
Kama…
Mheshimiwa @Mlachake:
Kama tukiendelea kuwachagua viongozi wasio na msimamo, je, tutafufuka lini?
Nimemwuliza Mheshimiwa Dr. William Samoei Chirchir Arap Ruto mara nyingi atuambie ni nani aliyehusila na kifo cha kuwateketeza watu katika kanisa la Kiambaa huko Eldoret. Mheshimiwa amenyamaza na huku anataka kuwa kiongozi wa Jamhuri ya Kenya 2022.
Mheshimiwa makamu wa rais, ana hela nyingi ambazo hatujui alizipata kutoka wapi! Sijui kama ni kweli lakini nimesikia ya kwamba yeye ana helikoputa kadhaa anazotumia kusafiria na huku wananchi wanapoteza maisha barabarani kila siku kwa vile waheshimiwa waliochaguliwa hawafikirii hata kidogo maidsha ya mwananchi wa kawaida.
Nimemwomba rais amwambie Mheshimiwa Samoei atulie na kuwacha kutangatanga huku akiendeleza uraibu ambao uko karibu kumaliza nchi yetu unaojulikana kama “UFISADI.”
Waswahili husema, “Aisifuye mvua imemnyia.” Unapomsikia mwanasiasa akimsifu Mheshimiwa Ruto awe rais 2022, ni lazima ujue ya kwamba, mwanasiasa huko tayari ameshapokea rushwa kutoka kwa makamu wa rais.
Nilistaajabu sana kumsikia Mheshimiwa “Jicho Pevu” akimwuunga makamu rais awe rais 2022. Sijui alipokea kiasi gani cha fedha ili aseme hivyo!
When you all Africans run…
When you all Africans run everything with efficiency and effectiveness , on budget, free of corruption, and professionalism – then you can all yap here, now since you cannot even run a proper mini department let alone a constituency, then y’all shut up!Yes Nimesema. @Mlachake ebu tell them
Indeed. When you seriously…
Indeed. When you seriously think about it, you get really pissed off by our collective value framework….we just don’t get it. The few who get it will not be allowed to run the country and will either be forced into exile or be killed (like I have mentioned above) or emigrate to go work as slaves abroad where they expose themselves to much contempt. It’s really not 100% about our skin color; it has much more to do with the way we conduct ourselves such that corruption, incompetence, greed & all manner of vices are associated with us. The brown skinned Egyptians had managed to conquer & enslave Israel (whites) eons ago…
Respect will come when we…
Respect will come when we finally find out who we are: When will that be? We need five things, drop off foreign God, foreign names, foreign language, foreign culture, and start respecting, protecting and uplifting where we come from promoting and uplifting who we are.
Very well said,respecting,…
Very well said,respecting, promoting UPLIFTING UPLIFTING UPLIFTING. Thank you!!! Tell them.
Look at the bigger picture…
Look at the bigger picture and you will understand how the wheel works. Please read these : https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-so-called-Chinas-debt-trap-policy-all-about and this https://www.quora.com/Can-China-emerge-as-a-world-superpower . We have been with Americans and the British for the longest time, they live with their families here, they have bought homes, they have acquired citizenship.. those are just the two foreign countries (In the back of your head, read Super powers) we have not mentioned Russia (You should see the size of their embassy in Nairobi). China is just trying to find its position in the world just as these other super powers, they were overtaken by round one of colonization and now they need to take their place at the table and the only way possible in this generation is through their “Dept trap policy” and we cannot run from it, we can only have policy to balance it out.. and this is the reality…have you ever thought why the old railway lines have never been removed, even where the train has not passed for over 20 years now..the infrastructure and land (1km on each side of the lines- set aside for firewood production) is still owned by the British empire.
Colonization used to be brutal and inhumane because one species of the human kind considering itself superior due to its skin colour, right now, the superiority is being measured by financial muscles…so how big are are our Kenyan muscles..and how big can they grow when the only thing we flex is our fingers. There is not much we can do,because when deals are being made by the government, there is a deal behind the deal to make the deal happen. think about this, when the Chinese arrive in Kenya, do they not declare their period of stay and what they are coming to do and whom they are visiting and their address.. go to neighboring Tanzania utajaza form kwa border with these questions, its the policy for visiting a foreign country. Mnyonge hana haki, so said wahenga.
Dear kenyans, this is where…
Dear kenyans, this is where it is going: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/world/asia/sri-lanka-china-port.html
even me I’ have injuries of…
even me I’ have injuries of two fingers and don’t want to take to hospital he take all X ray when asked them she tell I have to do them