Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Kenyan unions urge non-Muslim workers to leave north after attacks

Published 12/03/2014, 10:21 AM
Updated 12/03/2014, 09:30 AM
© Reuters. Members of a Kenyan security team head out after receiving bodies of people who were killed at a quarry in Korome, at Wilson airport in Nairobi

© Reuters. Members of a Kenyan security team head out after receiving bodies of people who were killed at a quarry in Korome, at Wilson airport in Nairobi

By Edith Honan

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan trade unions have urged non-Muslim public sector workers including teachers and doctors to leave the country's lawless northern region, site of two deadly attacks by militants in the past two weeks, because of the security risks.

Somali militant Islamist group al Shabaab killed 36 non-Muslim workers on Tuesday at a quarry in northeast Kenya. They also shot dead 28 non-Muslim bus passengers on Nov. 22 while sparing Muslim travelers.

Many of the public sector workers in less prosperous northern Kenya are Christians who moved from the Rift Valley in the west, lured by promises of more work.

"They (the authorities) must guarantee the safety of workers," said Wilson Sossion, secretary-general of the teachers' union and also general secretary of Kenya's Trade Union Congress.

He said the unions' call was addressed to 10,000 teachers and 6,500 other public servants, including doctors and nurses.

The governor of northeast Kenya's Mandera county, Ali Roba, implored the workers to stay put, saying an exodus would only deepen the area's isolation from the rest of the country. As it is, the region struggles to attract qualified workers, he said.

"It's unfortunate that the likes of the Kenyan National Union of Teachers is going on the media to say civil servants who are non-Muslim should leave," he told Reuters. "Terror is terror, it's affecting us equally."

The exodus has already started, though Sossion said he did not know how many workers had so left Mandera.

"People are scared," said Ken Mulinga, a clinical officer originally from western Kenya who fled Mandera this week after spending five years in the region. "The best thing for now is to leave that place and watch from a distance."

President Uhuru Kenyatta, under pressure to do more to curb the incessant militant attacks which have killed more than 200 people since 2013, announced a shake-up of his security team on Tuesday after the killing of the quarry workers.

© Reuters. Members of a Kenyan security team head out after receiving bodies of people who were killed at a quarry in Korome, at Wilson airport in Nairobi

Al Shabaab says it will keep up its attacks to persuade Kenya to pull its troops out of Somalia, where its forces have joined other African Union troops battling the militants.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.