At least 20 magistrates on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast went on strike on Monday to demand a 1 000% pay hike as the Kenyan justice ministry warned that court officers not reporting for duty will be fired.
”The strike is historic,” said Justus Munyithya, chairperson of the coastal branch of the Law Society of Kenya, whose members support the work stoppage.
The striking magistrates, who complain that they are paid only about 5 000 shillings (about R396) a month, have vowed not to resume work until their demands are met.
They also called on their colleagues across the East African nation to join the strike that paralysed courtroom operations on Monday in the coastal region around the port city of Mombasa, where only the chief magistrate reported for work.
Meanwhile, Dola Indindis, a spokesperson for the judiciary department at Kenya’s ministry of justice, said magistrates not reporting for work as scheduled will be sacked.
”Magistrates offer essential services and cannot go on strike,” he said. ”Any such officer who goes behind the oath trust and sworn duty will face the full force of the law.
”The judicial service commission will not hasten to take appropriate, immediate and disciplinary action and dismiss such officers forthwith,” Indindis said. — Sapa-AFP