Police in the Lang’ata area deployed tear gas to disperse protesting Nairobi County contract workers hired to clean up the Lang’ata cemetery.
Workers staged a protest at the cemetery’s entrance on Wednesday, complaining that they had not received their salaries for five months while dutifully carrying out their tasks.
According to Monica Kimani, the Lang’ata sub-county police commander, officers intervened to disperse the demonstrators after they began burning tires outside the Lang’ata police station’s entrance.
Meanwhile, the workers have vowed to keep the cemetery’s gates closed until they receive their money, urging citizens who seek to bury their loved ones to return home or seek other alternatives.
Addressing the press after the incident, Nairobi County Secretary Patrick Analo confirmed that the casual workers had not been paid.
He said the payments were hampered by the county’s budget cycle.
“We have about 77 labourers working in the cemetery who were retained 6 months ago to tend to the ground and improve the aesthetics. Let me apologize that they have not been paid to date,” Analo said.
The county Secretary said the process has been completed and the request for money has been launched and approved.
“It is just a matter of time and they will be paid by next week. It’s unfortunate that they protested today and closed the cemetery, obstructing those who wanted to bury their loved ones.”
