Monday, January 16, 2012

State to reinstate EAPCC management



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The government has pledged to facilitate the reinstatement of suspended board of directors at the troubled East African Portland Cement Company. There has been heightened tension between employees and the Maasai community over whether to reinstate the directors or not. The workers have threatened to stall operations atthe company if the government reinstates them. On the other hand, the Maasai community from Kajiado have vowed to close down the mining points for cement raw materials such as gypsum, pozzolana and limestones until the suspended members are back in office.
Addressing a peace meeting in Kajiado on Saturday, the Rift Valley PC Osman Warfa said the government will respect the court order. Hassan appealed to the Maasais to uphold peace and restraint. "We will listen to all the parties involved and make a suitable direction," said Warfa.
The PC, who was addressing more than 3,000 morans, said the government will address their problems. Warfa said he had held a meeting with his Eastern counterpart over issues affecting operations at the EAPCC. The meeting was also attended by Isinya DC Hassan Ali Bule who appealed to the Maasais not to close the gypsum, limestones and pozzolana mining points.
Earlier in the day, police took over the EAPCC plant and sent away employees. On Friday night, Athi River DC Kodhek Makori deployed APs to stop employees from entering the premises. During the confrontation, two vehicles belonging to staff members alleged to be loyal to the suspended directors were set ablaze. Union members called a meeting to condemn the Friday incident and said they are not ready to work with the suspended directors.
Spokesman Elijah Wasike appealed to the government to sack the entire board and appoint new members. Last, week, the High Court reinstated the suspended board members but they were unable to serve the orders to the company managers after the staff at the plant vowed to block their effort. Closure of the plant milling machines, according to the management, means a loss of Sh50 million per day in cement sales.

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