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 despite diligently carrying out their duties.
According to Monica Kimani, the Lang’ata sub-county police commander, officers intervened to disperse the protesters after they began burning tyres near the Lang’ata police station’s entrance.
Kimani stated that she told the workers that instead of causing unrest in the area, they should take their complaints to the Nairobi County Governor’s office in the city.
Meanwhile, the workers have vowed to keep the cemetery’s gates closed until they are paid, urging citizens who want to bury their loved ones to return home or seek other options.
Nairobi County Secretary Patrick Analo confirmed to the press after the incident that the casual workers had not been paid.
According to him, 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.
According to the county secretary, the process has been completed, and the funding request 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.”
Langata Cemetery, established in 1958, serves as the resting place for over 100,000 Kenyans.
